Beyond Time
by Loasty of the toasty
Summary: A Demon of a bygone time, and the tenacity of a man's own nature had plagued the past with conflict. The Champion who stood to combat those wicked forces met his end deftly. However, the past holds secrets only known to very few, and the forces that brought about the end of an age returned. For the huntresses and huntsman of now, forgotten tales will become known...
1. Chapter 1

**_Revised as of 11/14/17_**

 **A/N: The opening prologue can be skipped if you really want to, but it contains most of the essential information about everything that sets up for the story. It's mostly basic information, if you want to skip you can but you would most likely have to put a little more thought into the rest of the reading to get an idea of what's going on.**

Prologue -

Prejudice is within man's own nature.

It matters little of what fickle thing or paltry reason, the slightest movements to each action and the smallest phrases that may bare malcontents. No matter what incorrigible thoughts that may grace our minds, we can do little but to listen to the voices in our heads that tell us that what we see is a symbol of utter malevolence, something that is not to be trusted.

However, there could have been a time where wishful thinking had not borne the events of avarice that had brought upon the fate of ancient man. Perhaps if men had just taken to a understatement of what had lived amongst them, they could have thrown away their intuitions, their need for a simplicity untouched by nature. If they had not sought for a world in which negligible acts came with a widespread understatement, then perhaps the inevitability of what they had sewn would not be upon them.

These were the sections of history, that in relativity to its importance, were a loss to all morals to have been learned.

Afore the lands of uniform cities, following a certain moral code deemed to itself only as society, they were more primal beings that came about with an unbridled confidence. Yet these beings were only the ancestors to men.

The men of ancient time had lived with a certain breathy word to their existence, a thought that they had everything within their obtainable reach. The only people who stood in their way were their own brethren, those of exact decent, and a common goal, yet each had a method that stood unfathomable to the other.

However, it had not been man's own arrogant self that had brought about it's own undoing, in place of who had been the only anticipated combatants, came a new people.

A people, who came without any prior signs.

Perhaps this had been the first gaffe to man's fragility?

The beings had come from within the bosom of the world itself, nurtured by a flame unbeknownst to the men of the past. They came silently, no words, no interactions, just the solemn gaze of one from the hills, or from within the fields.

It mattered little of where that sad, almost understanding leer had found its place. Rumors of those watching from the distance became apparent to the men of the past, as it inevitably would.

No malcontents could be known to have been traceable amongst the foreign gazes of the forlorn enigmas, yet a certain unease had taken root within men. A primal fear that surfaced all because of a curious glance, that fear surfaced within men to the point where it seethed over.

And so the beings were given their names, one that they would eventually even take to adopting.

Demons.

The name had been little more than a fearful insult, however, this had only helped to bring upon another fear to the men of the past. A fear of loss...

A consternation that man had developed, a thought that they could possibly lose all that they had gained. All brought upon them by their own lack of insight.

It had not been an unreasonable fear to these men however, their own tenacity had birthed great cities and landscapes alike. Their own competition with themselves only drew them to outdo what they had already done, their own desires for progression built them working systems, and moral codes. Not unlike that of modern men, it's only difference being their unrefined execution.

However the gaze of the frightful beings only worked to have pushed man to their most dire choices, all made from a form of prejudice that had worked against men from their creation.

So these beings had been labeled as the enemy to man, their names and frightening appearances only helping to bolster man's already quick witted thought.

They had become the symbol of all hate to the men of the past, and the mention of Demons only worked to make men shudder in anticipation. Their own embodiment of hatred, was a prospect even comparable to those of modern times, however on a more one sided advance. The Demons of the past could be argued to have been man's answer to a lack of the Grimm from the future, however the Demons were shown to have had a semblance of personality.

Their faultless example of such personality had been of one Demon who's own morals were questionable.

He even had a name, a concept almost human.

Seraphim.

That had been the name most feared by ancient men, its pronunciation bringing a pang of terror to citizens, and a wave of unease to the soldiers who had stood to combat the estranged newcomers.

Despite all of man's arrogant words and reassuring prayers, they stood like logs above a fire to the Demons. Their own prejudice mistake bringing upon them a war that tore apart much of what they had come to create and appraise, their own avarice being their setback.

However, man had discovered a force that had gone unseen to them, something which held a power so benevolent to men that it had been an epiphany to their weary minds.

They had divulged the power of their own faith.

With their minds tainted with the fear of losing what they had brought to their own insignificant creations, they had looked to greater forces. Beings on an entirely different and equally foreign basis for existence, an unseen force that had however made it's presence very known.

The Gods.

Through simple strength of faith alone, man was able to conceive a being into sentience, a prospect that should evoked the prejudice desires of men. Yet it had not, for it only stood for men, and the preservation of their own kind, a moral that men had taken an unparalleled fondness for.

Whilst unseen, The Gods still played their part in the carefully orchestrated game of war, making themselves utterly known to the Demons.

It was these beings that had single handedly pulled man from its newly created shriving hovel of a world, forcing the enemies men had come to back to their place of birth, sealing them away.

As comforting as the thought had been to the men of the past, it was only temporary. Its fix, only a slight stitch in a greater tear.

Led by his own hatred, Seraphim returned.

Driven by a malice and hatred towards The Gods, Seraphim had devoted his existence towards their destruction.

It had only played out as it had before...

The Demons were once again sealed within the bosom of the world's own insides, yet that hadn't stopped him from clawing his way through everything that kept him below.

Yet his actions were met with naught, as they had before, and for many times to come.

His undying rage refusing to allow him to sit idly by as he was capable of acting.

The Gods, alongside the existence of men sought for a more permanent solution to man's unending strife. So, in a display of desperation The Gods instead turned to the humans for help rather than the inverse, blessing a single human with the abilities to kill the Demon, riding man of their largest enemy.

Perhaps man had a chance to live without Demons...

-S-

It was almost relaxing, in all honesty.

From where she was sitting with her back propped firmly against the base of a large oak, the view was beyond gorgeous. A view that she came to value during her time here, the views from Beacon's cliffs.

Though she never thought herself to be much of a thinker, often times her mind found itself drifting to the more confounding things of life. Those areas were much better suited for the habitually quiet and reserved Belladonna, not for the red hooded reaper.

That hadn't really bothered her though, she enjoyed musing on petty nothings and simply outlandish thoughts. Like the one she couldn't get out of her head at the moment. One that had come to her for no real reason, but she still humored the idea to ponder it.

How can you tell when someone's truly a bad person?

The thought had come to her for no particular reason, there were no events or interactions that would have warranted this train of thought, but it had still come to her. For whatever reason as well, she just couldn't get the thought out of her head, it's what had even drove her to come and enjoy the view.

It was the reason it was _almost_ relaxing though.

It genuinely made her wonder. It had even been enough to stop the usually absentminded girl in her thoughts, and it amused her to a certain extent that she was even thinking like this, it just didn't seem like her.

Sure, someone may do something that is inherently considered evil, but why they do it could change that prospect.

It's not the action or doing itself, rather it's the motive. The force which drove them to do what people could consider evil, even if their general human morales dictated otherwise.

It truly brought her to qualms with herself, to the point where she furrowed her top brows in internal conflict. It didn't bother her to the point where it affected her attitude, but it was something to think about, just a little something to keep her up for an extra few minutes at night.

She didn't know if it was just her, but without a proper answer, it irked her.

It had caused her some obvious inner turmoil, as small as it may be, but the lack of a clear answer is what got her most. As ambiguous as her question was, it wasn't the question itself that had truly brought her to a solemn moment of intense thought, rather it was the fact that she really didn't know.

She didn't even know the answer to her own question.

As she found her mind settling, she opted to appreciate the view in front of her over her internal tug of war. The stretching miles of green trees and the sheer drop brought back some fond memories to her, ones that although weren't long ago, still felt that way. Her initiation had brought her to a meeting with the Schnee heiress, who initially exhibited the qualities of a bad person, though she would never tell her partner that. Their strife having already been solved, it made it clearer to the young reaper that people can still be good even if they have a little bad to them.

So it only complicated the question further for herself.

"Ruby!"

With a slight jump from the yell of her name, the hooded girl pulled her train of thought to a stop.

Turning her head around the trunk of the tree she sat at the base of, she took in the sight of her overtly protective sister. A quick sigh escaped through her lips as she took in the sight, but it wasn't entirely out of resentment, just mild annoyance.

"What are you doing out here?" She began, slowing herself as she came to a stop next to her sitting sister.

Taking a brief moment before speaking to clear her mind from her strange thoughts, she looked up to her older sister. "What are _you_ doing here?" She mocked, turning the question back on her.

The sister's expression dropped ever so slightly, just to the point where it was noticeable. "Well, looking for you for starters. So wanna answer my question?" She prodded, mentally poking at the younger girl teasingly.

"Oh, well just relaxing and taking in the view." She responded, refusing to elaborate on her previous thoughts.

Looking at her briefly, the Xiao-Long decided to take a seat next to her younger sister at the base of the oak, letting out a heavy breath as she slumped down besides her sister.

"It's a pretty good view isn't it." She spoke as she allowed her eyes to take in all of the expanses of green and blue spread out before her.

"But you shouldn't be enjoying it all alone, how about you bring some cute boy out here next time." She continued, prodding at her sister with her elbow, all whilst giving her a signature Xiao-Long smirk. A smirk that Ruby was just a little too familiar with.

A comment like that usually embarrassed the easily flustered sister, but for some strange reason she couldn't find any room in her mind for her to be taken back by the statement. A fact that her older sister seemed to notice as well when she only replied with a small smile that she followed up with a a playful "Shut up"

Her reaction was strange to Yang however, she knew her own sister better than any person on the entire planet should probably know. So this one small change in her demeanor didn't go unnoticed to her, and it had prompted her to some confusion and equal parts worry.

"Ruby?" She started questioningly.

"You ok? I know being in Beacon two years ahead of everyone else can be a little overwhelming, but you've got you're team if you really need us." She spoke comfortingly, each octave of her voice coming out in a steady and relaxing tone.

Ruby just looked back at her with small parts confusion. There wasn't any major problem that was bothering her, but that one question she had let into her mind was still left unanswered. Yet, how could her sister notice that the question she thought up was actually beginning to bother her.

She hadn't thought that she showed off that much fret or worry because of the question, but to her sister; small things like that wouldn't be hard for her to pick up on. She had an almost uncanny knack for telling when something was wrong with her sister, it made hiding things from her very difficult.

Deciding not to stay in silence for too long to the point where her sister worried, Ruby responded. "Well, I've just been thinking about this one thing." She spoke ambiguously, but it had at least notified Yang that there was something on her mind.

"And what's that?" She asked back, wondering to herself what thought could have brought her sister to the point of seclusion.

To Ruby she hardly minded sharing her thought with Yang, she doubted she would be that much of a help in finding her answer, but it would at least relieve her worries. She had shared many things with her sister after all, things that she would never tell a single other person.

So she spoke, taking a moment to collect her scrabbled thoughts before speaking.

"Yang, how can you tell when someone's a bad person?"

She felt a gust of wind sweep past her, carrying a few leaves off the edge of the cliff.

Yang pulled her brow down in a way similar to Ruby, allowing a moment for the thought to run itself through her mind. She certainly hadn't expected a prospect as heavy as the one Ruby presented, but she wouldn't put it behind her. If anything she had expected it to be something much less than it actually was.

However, a newfound seriousness had become present.

To the sisters, that single thought hung above them, dangling just out of reach.

The older sister shifted, leaning a little more of her weight upon her significantly small sister. A single thin strand of her hair had been pulled by a gust of wind in front of her eye, wanting to be free so it could fly away and over the cliff's edge.

Yang sighed slowly.

"I couldn't tell you."

-S-

Chapter 1 - Desert of Woe

He opened the next blank page of his journal.

The leather bindings that had held the shoddy piece of equipment together stretched and groaned as the crusted pages of the journal turned. The deerskin that had held it's contents together stretched, creating thin creases that ran across the fronts and backs of the tattered clump of papers bound together.

Pressing the sharpest point of his ink dipped feather to the page's top, he began to write.

 _Three days worth of traveling and I don't get even a moment of rest. It's true though, that Demon is here. However, he won't make himself known, instead he resorts to his normal tactics of inducing fear. Although this is not our first meeting I will formally make this our last, The Gods have prepared me beyond many bounds, he will not live on this world for any longer._

 _In the desert though, in these ruins, why would he ever choose to meet here? It doesn't sit well with me, he is a fiend and that is fact, the very embodiment of deceit. Although, I will not hold back truths, a feeling of dread is apparent in my mind, I do have my doubts. Yet, I know that the weight of my actions is strong and that this Demon is a threat greater than any other. For that reason I can assure myself that victory will be my only solace, I must win._

 _With my blessings of strength, I can assure that this Demon will be no more._

 _\- Aen_

Releasing three days worth of exhaustion out in one sigh, he grabbed at his discarded helmet, putting it before himself to take in its visage. He even allowed his inked feather to drop into the sand so that he could hold it more steadily.

It was a useful thing, the closed visor of the helmet only leaving him enough room to see into it through a small slit that ran across the front. It was an incredibly useful thing actually, he thought that as he tapped his knuckles to the heavy breastplate of his armor, the resounding clang that his knocking created only reassuring him of the strength the armor held.

He looked to the helmet again, recalling the many magical properties that The Gods had blessed the entirety of his plate-mail with. The few ones he could recall being the physical strengtheners of the armor, though there were many others that he couldn't recall.

As useful as his armor was to him though, it did have a raging flaw that had caused him as much discomfort as it had annoyance. The armor covered almost all of his being, the only parts that weren't covered in metal - mostly his joints - were instead protected by the strong links of chain that he wore underneath the armor's plating itself. Because of this otherwise useful fact, the many grains of sand that flew freely through the desert found themselves getting stuck with the joints and cracks of his armor, rubbing against him uncomfortably.

He sighed again.

His face was weary, clear with exhaustion, even if The Gods had given him the blessing of strength. His mind was active as well, too active for his own liking.

His thoughts constantly drifted, they never stayed in one place and many times things quickly became unclear for him. The only thing that ever really stayed clear in his head was his name, Aen, simple as it was.

Aen was about the only word that could recur in his mind with the same meaning, a Champion. The one who stood to combat the malicious desires of the Demon he waited on.

The waiting was getting to him, he didn't want to have to wait long within the desert's heart, not while an evil presently lurked within it. However, before his mind could shift away from a concise line of thinking, a voice echoed inside his head.

 _"Aen, out the door, something is coming."_

With a startled jump the armored man quickly brought the helmet of his armor over his young face, covering his shortened black hair and oppositely colored eyes of green and gray. Aen then reached towards his hip, clasping at the grip of his sword as he stood to his fullest. He drew it cleanly, the long silver sheen of his intricately decorated blade brandishing itself to his surroundings.

He knew the voice, it was the voice of The Gods. It made him aware that he should listen carefully, The Gods had never told him a lie and he would trust their word.

Another voice rang out again, this time of another one of The Gods.

 _"Content thee Aen, it is only his messenger."_

The voice was only present in his mind, but he still replied out loud through his own words.

"Eir, is his messenger of any danger to me?"

Aen spoke back to the one of his three gods that he served, the one that had been that symbol of health and tranquility. Her voice was by far the most calming of the three, the two others having their own unique but strange tone of voice.

 _"His messenger is as it states, simply a peaceful pawn of his. No danger should await you."_

Aen took his first step towards the exit of the small ruined home he had taken refuge within, the sandy floor leaving an outline of his armored foot as he began forwards. He was only able to take just the first step before another different voice once again rang out inside his head.

 _"Keep your blade brandished Aen, we are not omnipotent"_

The voice was of the one who had personally crafted his sword, Balder. A weapon with a power so great that the third God - the one of knowledge - Aesir, had to shed his own knowledge of weaponry onto Aen so that he could even wield the weapon to it's fullest. He had done so with his ability of knowledge transference, a power of the Gods that allowed them to bless any being with any amount of knowledge they wished.

Nodding internally to himself the young Champion stepped through the crumbling door of the sandstone ruin he sat within previously. He held his blade ready in his right hand, his left carrying a shield of his that he had left lying in the sand by the door, and observantly looked about the rest of the ruined homes.

It wasn't long before the consistent batter of wings hit his ears, making him turn to face the origin of the noise. What Aen saw was the form of a small bat-like creature flying towards him, a parchment of paper wrapped round it's ankle as it flew.

He had seen the creature before, it was the messenger that the abhorrent Demon had used to deliver his messages, a hellbat. A creature whose intentions were peaceful, but found itself used by the wrong forces.

It stopped before him, letting out a loud squawk as it set itself on the ground before Aen's feet, lifting the ankle the parchment was tied around up for the champion to see. Aen bent down gently, grabbing carefully at the small ankle of the fuzzy creature, trying to be careful so he wouldn't startle the usually stalwart lesser demon.

The thing, though unnerving in its appearance never really bothered Aen, and for that reason he could hardly find it within himself to hate the lesser Demon. Don't harm the messenger per-say.

Deeming it safe to himself, Aen returned his blade to it's sheath and let his shield drop to the sand at his side.

He pulled the parchment free from the bat's ankle, he then took a brief moment for his eyes to scan over the rolled piece of paper. A letter, clearly a letter from the Demon he was waiting on. The red wax sealing that the Demon commonly used was present on the rolled paper, confirming to the Champion that the Demon was near, possibly nearer than he anticipated.

Without wasting a moment, Aen tapped an armored hand to the bat's head in a comedic form of thanks before he peeled away the wax sealing. The parchment unraveled and it revealed to the Champion a letter neatly written in ink, the handwriting crisp and fine, far better than Aen's own.

Glancing once more to the bat who sat idly at the Champion's feet, Aen assured his safety and then began reading.

 _Dear Champion,_

 _Is it so hard for you humans to comprehend the weight of your assertions? You throw about ideas and lies, just so you can turn everyone away from a frightening image. That will end shortly, without a figurehead a ship cannot sail, surely that comparison means something to you._

 _Fret not on my own ideas, you haven't the room in your mind to hear them through, and I doubt any of you ever will. So for now, keep your eyes to the stars, when the moon reaches it's fullest my light will be to the north._

 _I anticipate your arrival._

 _Sincerely, Seraphim_

Aen sighed, he could never fully understand many of the letters the Demon had presented. To him though, this one made sense.

He knew that it called for their final meeting, and the fading light that came from the setting sun told him that meeting wasn't far away.

Perhaps he should take a moment to rest.

-S-

He would be lying if he said he had gained proper rest.

Though the sun had already set he knew that their meeting was scheduled only for when the shattered moon had reached it's fullest. As it stood, the moon was nearing it's climax, and Aen's anticipation had sent jitters through his body.

To the north, that's where he was supposed to be.

Even if he had rested for a brief moment, it hardly helped his mind. His constant stare towards the northern dune of sand just outside the ruins hardly spoke of a clear mind. There was no way around the fact that this moment decided the outcome of everyone's livelihood, and for that reason Aen couldn't keep his differently colored eyes away from the dune.

Even through the thin slit of his closed helmet his eyes clearly could make out the dune in the distance, and he felt a certain amount of dread come to him as the moon's light shone harder upon his armored back. He knew the time was nearing, and the swelling of some emotion he couldn't put a name to in his chest told him his task wouldn't be easy.

That's when he saw it.

They were hardly a noticeable thing, five lights shinning upon the northern dune's top.

They shone just barely brighter than a dull lamp. They were piercing lights though, sharpened and small, and accurate to a point. Aside from showing the Champion where to go, the lights bore no guidance, no solace or relief, just an enticing flame with a deadly owner.

Aen drew his sword, releasing a slow breath through his mouth and out the small holes of his closed helmet. He then began forward, but after his first step he faltered, even with his blessings of strength.

Looking carefully upon the lights he reassured his victory, and strengthening his resolve he brought himself forth upon the sandy dune. Continuing up and forward towards the five small piercing lights Aen continued to assure himself that his course was just, the footsteps he left in the sand telling him that he stayed his course.

As he crested the dune's flat top, he looked closely upon the lights.

The sight of Seraphim before him did not ease his mind.

The Demon let a hand slip out from his ragged burlap robes, revealing five candles that he balanced upon the tips of each of his boney and elongated fingers. Had it not been for those lights though, the full height of the creature would have been lost to Aen, and he almost wish it had.

Seraphim stood tall, easily two heads above the Champion, but his eyes leveled themselves with the top of his head. The creature would have found the need to crane it's head down to look at Aen had it stood to it's fullest, but instead it reduced height by hunching, bringing it's eyes level with Aen's head.

However, the Demon had one obvious feature that stood out; its clear lack of eyes.

The empty cavities where the eyes should have been were nothing other than a shaded hole where two small - yet bright - red orbs floated within. The intensity of the red orbs was only comparable to that of the five candles' flames that he balanced upon an outstretched hand, a hand which bore only small similarities to Aen's, the elongated fingers and their boney structure making that fact very clear.

Alongside the sickly gray and rotting skin the creature was covered with, its horribly skinny form and skeletal appearance only assured him that this truly was the Demon he had searched for.

Though the horribly gaunt creature had an appearance frightening enough to send the Champion into silence, nothing shook him more than the voice of the Demon.

"Greetings." Seraphim began.

His voice was low and gravely coming out as a croak, the backs of the Demon's throat sounding as if they desperately lacked hydration.

The Demon smiled deviously, revealing to Aen a single row of jagged teeth.

"For as long as my candles stay lit, we may be open for conversation." The demon remarked, nodding his eyeless head towards the candles he balanced on his fingers.

Aen just looked at the candles, watching as their wicks slowly burnt away on the tips of the Demon's hand. The prospect of conversing was tempting, he wouldn't be telling the truth if he said that he held no interest in the Demon. However, that was no the reason fro him being here.

"I do not come for conversation. I come to uphold my goal." Aen spoke, taking a moment to muster up his courage before he drew his sword from his sheath at his side and raised his shield in front of his body.

Seraphim just looked at the Champion, the red orbs which acted as his eyes trained deeply on the warrior. His smile had disappeared, instead replacing itself with an expressionless stare.

"That's a shame, I had many interests in you. I suppose it is your human nature though." The demon brought the candles close to his face after his speech, illuminating each of his cadaverous features.

"I had wished you would not be like your kindred. It appears that I was wrong in thinking highly of you" Seraphim added, bringing the hand upon which he balanced his candles near his rotted lips.

"Shall we start?" The Demon remarked slyly.

The corner of his lip curled up ever so slightly, and he brought the first candle close to his rotting lips.

With a quick breath he blew out the first.

"One" A wispy trail of smoke floated off into the night sky.

Aen tensed, he could feel his back foot digging into the sand in anticipation. Why did the demon have to toy with him?

"Two" The second candle's flame quickly extinguished.

Aen grit his teeth together, he would not play the demon's game. Seraphim's frightening stature held him in his place though.

"Three" The third candle lost its flame just as quickly.

This wouldn't do, Aen wouldn't sit by while the demon had his way. Tightening his grip on his god crafted sword, he readied himself.

"Fo-" The Demon's speech was cut short as Aen lunged forward with speed uncharacteristic of his armored stature.

He swung his sword down in an arc from over his head, aiming to cleave the lowered shoulder of the taller creature. His sword met resistance though, stopping in its place.

Aen felt the color drain from his face as he saw what had stopped his sword. Seraphim had grabbed it, with his bare hand at that. Somehow mustering the strength in his skinny body to grip the blade in place, the demon then looked closely into the slit of Aen's helmet.

The small red dots that floated in the center of the demon's empty eye sockets bore down upon Aen, their intense glow sending a chill down his armored back. He could feel the eyes studying him closely, and Aen watched back closely with his own, refusing to falter where he stood.

The demon just smiled.

"I was not aware that your eyes are different colors." The demon remarked calmly, the smile he held never leaving his face as he spoke.

"Intriguing" Seraphim muttered.

Aen's will did not fail him, but his nerves were certainly shaken, the brownish blood that seeped from the Demon's hand that grasped his blade making sure of that. However, Aen hardly got a time to study the blood before he watched the candles he balanced drop to the sand beside him.

Their flames were all gone.

The demon then quickly let go of the champion's sword and stepped back, pulling a concealed sabre out from within his burlap robes. The sabre was crude and looked unwieldy, Aen had not doubted its deadliness though in the hands of that demon.

Seraphim gave him hardly a moment to think.

He sprung forward on his spindly legs, swiping his sword directly towards the chest of the armored champion. Aen backstepped though, moving himself safely away from the crude sabre.

Working on his opening Aen then sent his sword forward in a stab, the blade only found itself smoothly knocked away as the demon closed in on him. Swinging his sabre with surprising speed the demon continued a furious onslaught of swipes and swings, forcing the champion to dodge and block the strong and carefully aimed strikes.

The last swipe he sent directly down on the champion did not miss or land however. It instead met Aen's shield which he raised up at an angle, causing the crude sabre to slide of its angled front.

Quickly closing in on his opening the champion lunged past the demon's side, dragging his sword across Seraphim's mid-drift as he moved. The blade cut deep into the rotted skin, leaving behind a sickly gash which leaked a brownish rotten blood.

The wound hardly seemed to affect the creature though. Turning smoothly on his heel the demon lunged forward towards Aen, his sabre meeting cleanly with the champion's own sword. The strike was uncharacteristically strong coming from the skinny demon, but it had still succeeded in knocking Aen's sword down.

Working with Aen's shaken stance the creature swung its sword back around from the side, aiming directly towards Aen's own mid-drift. Without a moment to recompose himself the champion opted to raise his shield over where he predicted the sword to land, he didn't even have a proper moment to angle it our position it correctly.

The sabre met cleanly with the broad side of Aen's shield with strength he wasn't expecting. The shield clanged loudly as Aen was knocked onto his side from the force of the blow, the sand puffing up around where he landed.

Aen had only a moment to react when the demon burst through the cloud of sand with it's sabre ready to pierce his prone form. He used that moment well though, and rolled on his side away from the sabre as it stabbed into the sand where he used to be.

Standing as fast as his armor allowed him, Aen quickly backpedaled away from Seraphim, attempting to put some distance between himself and the demon.

Seraphim had not chased him down though, and instead stood at a distance. He watched carefully and intensely, refusing to remove his red orbs from Aen's haggard self.

Aen let loose a breath, and took in the cool desert air.

He couldn't win with his sword, even if he had landed a hit on the creature he doubted the Demon would make the same mistake twice. He needed to switch up his tactics, it was clear Seraphim had already adjusted to the way Aen used his sword.

Straightening up he decided he would now use his sword's power, what better time then now?

He held the thin blade out in front of him, and in his mind pictured the form of an even thinner and sharper pointed blade. A golden light enveloped the sword casting a glow onto the sand as the sword warped and changed.

It's blade thinned, and the point sharpened, turning itself into the elegant form of a rapier. When the glow had faded Aen no longer held his original blade, but instead the rapier that it had transposed into. The blessed power of transposition allowed the blade to transform it's shape into that of any other weapon Balder had allowed it to, and Aen took full advantage of that power.

Seraphim looked at the new blade Aen had now held in his hand, studying it carefully for any flaws that the blade could have. Aen didn't give him a long moment to study though. He pounced forward with rapier in hand, and thrusted strongly towards the torso of the taller being, in response the demon jumped to the side. The blade had missed it's mark but Aen continued his attack, sending well placed stabs from his rapier at the demon with zeal.

None had met unfortunately, all having been either blocked or dodged by the surprisingly fast demon. Aen did not let that fact discourage him though, and continued with a final stab that aimed itself toward's the creature's chest.

Seraphim had attempted to knock the thin blade away, but the speed that had followed the attack caught him off guard. His small miscalculation had allowed the blade to land itself in his ribs, piercing a small hole in between the oversized demon's bones.

Seraphim let out a pained grunt and quickly jumped back from the champion, holding a boney hand over the wound which leaked more rotten blood. He just looked back at Aen, still refusing to stand to his fullest.

With new confidence Aen then charged forward once again, taking the initiative in their brief stand-off. He lunged off his back foot and thrust his rapier forward towards the demon's neck this time.

Seraphim had predicted the attack however.

Tilting his head to the side he watched as the blade flew by the side of his face, missing him and his neck by only the smallest increments. He worked with his carefully timed dodge and set his sabre down across the breast plate of the champion, cutting a gash cleanly down the front of his reinforced armor.

With a yell of pain Aen jumped back using more effort than before. He was lucky in the placement of Seraphim's strike as it had only grazed down his chest, but it did not mean he was unharmed. The pain was bearable, but the tactics he was using would have to change.

Holding the thin rapier out to his side he watched through the corner of his eye as the weapon called upon the power of transposition, a golden light shinning over his armor. In the rapier's place was a far more brutish weapon, the large form of a heavy mace now stood in for it.

Ignoring the pain Aen ran forward with the mace in hand, holding it high above his head as he prepared a strike. The demon readied itself and held its sabre at the ready, taking solace in the fact that it had landed a strike on the small human.

He was not as ready as he had anticipated though. The heavy mace came down with strength Seraphim had not predicted and his attempt to block high was thwarted as the mace crushed through his raised sabre. The mace only stopped when it collided with the left shoulder of the taller being, creating an audible crack that assured Aen he had broken bone.

The attack had knocked Seraphim off balance, and the pain flared up. He wouldn't let it bother him though and quickly swept his sabre up at the armored human.

Aen had stepped back just enough for the attack to miss by the smallest amount, but the strong kick that followed the upwards slash had surprised him. The demon's foot collided hard with the breastplate of his armor, but the force that followed the kick was worrying as it sent him off his feet and onto his back. Both his shield and mace had been knocked from his hands by the force of the attack, he grimaced as he noted the dent in his breastplate.

The demon didn't give him even a moment and charged forward towards Aen's laying form. The speed at which the demon carried itself forwards panicked the champion, forcing him to call upon the last of his abilities.

He felt a ball of ethereal ice form in the palm of his gauntlet, and acting quickly on instinct he threw his hand forward. The ball's shape had morphed into more of a spike as it flew through the desert air, hurtling towards Seraphim's running body.

Aen could only watch idly as the only spell he knew flew past the demon, missing it's mark by just the smallest increment, courtesy of the way Seraphim hunched even more to duck under it.

In the moment the spike had missed a certain fear surfaced inside Aen's chest, a fear that every human held somewhere within them.

A fear of loss.

He watched in startled fear as the demon pounced over him, slamming it's sabre directly through his gut.

The pain flared up instantly. Aen couldn't trifle the scream that escaped his lips and reverberated inside his closed helmet.

Seraphim felt no mercy however, and didn't listen to the sounds of Aen's yelling. He just pushed the blade deeper till it stuck into the sand beneath Aen, a smile adorning his face as he felt it protrude through the champion's back.

Aen's eyes were wide as he stared up at the demon who looked down on him, his red 'eyes' stabbing their own daggers into Aen. He just watched Seraphim smile, soundlessly gasping for any amount of the desert's cool air.

"So then onto The Gods." Seraphim spoke, chuckling to himself quietly as he listened to Aen's last few raspy breaths.

"Do not fret, I'll show mercy. For you at least" With a snap of his free hand after his speech, Seraphim allowed a burning hellfire to envelop his blade.

Aen screamed in utter agony, his insides boiling as the hellfire that hugged the demonic blade burned away at his very flesh. He thrashed his arms and legs about, attempting in any way to cease the burning at his insides, but he could do nothing as the hellfire ate away at his melting insides.

Seraphim's smile left. "I had hoped you'd be more understanding."

Without any other remark the Demon turned and left, walking away from the Champion who could only watch his body burn hopelessly.

He couldn't even feel the pain anymore and his screaming subsided, yet the hellfire still burned strong. His body had gone numb, and his limbs felt heavy, the shattered moon being the only thing that he could look upon through his now blurry eyes. The flames hardly hurt anymore, he just felt cold now, the hellfire failing to warm his body.

The shattered moon is all he looked upon.

The only thought that ran through his fading mind was fearful, and it chilled his body faster.

He had lost...

 **~S~**

 **Well then, first chapter done and revised. I hope it didn't throw you guys into everything too fast for you to handle, but I wanted to make sure I got everything I needed in the chapter. A small disclaimer for some more impatient readers though, the RWBY cannon doesn't actually occur until chapter 6, so if you're only interested in the RWBY cannon then you might have to wait. You can skip if you want but pretty much everything won't make sense, I had decided to spend the first few chapter developing Aen's character rather than throwing him directly into Beacon or something. The first chapters include a lot of backstory and essential information but there is some action here in there to spice things up. You can still just skim through them to get the essential information if you end up losing interest or something. Otherwise though, hopefully you enjoy the story.**

 **Loasty Of The Toasty**

 ** _Original A/N (Before revision)_**

 **Wow, I never thought that writing could be so hard. I've been reading a lot of fanfiction for a long time, it had originally started out as a joke with me and my friends because we thought all fanfiction was, was smut. Well eventually I found some really good fanfictions and I read them and I thought to myself, "Wow this isn't that bad" So I read more, and more, more, until I fell in love with it. I had so many ideas cooking up in my brain that I just had to wright them, but my parents would probably disown me and my friends would banish me or something like that. But eventually I got over my fear of that crap and began to write.**

 **As you have probably found out this is indeed my first fanfiction, and I'm pretty impressed with what I was able to cook up. I also have some new found respect for other authors on this site, I never really realized just how hard it is to write an over 6,000 word chapter, Personally I always liked longer fanfictions with longer chapters, because it kept me interested while I read it, and that's what I liked about them, so that's what I aim to do with this fic. Also I haven't realized how dedicated you have to be to your writing if you want to make long chapters with good content, It's definitely a lot of work, and my back hurts after being hunched over at this computer writing away for about 4 hours. Next time I tell an author to hurry up on the updates, I'll think twice. Also one last thing, I don't feel all that confident in my fight scene and it would help if I could get some feedback on whether it worked out or not. Anyways my dudes, thanks for taking your time to read this, and please leave a review if you think that this chapter was pretty toasty.**

 **\- Stay toasty, from Loasty of the Toasty**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Awakening

 _"Aen!"_

 _Aen was roused from his sleep by the sound of his father calling to him from outside his small wooden home. He rose from his straw bed and released a yawn upon getting up, he then proceeded to exit the house, passing his mother on the way out. "Aen dear, Breakfast will be ready soon" Aen responded with a hmm in agreement and continued outside into the fields that surrounded his small home. Aen's house was in the midst of a large field with corn and other crops growing from the soil in large rows all around his house with a large wooden barn and silo not far off from the house itself, when you made living off of farming it made sense to have all of the following. Aen was currently en route to the fields outside of his house so that he may find his father when in the process of walking to the farm he heard his father call to him, "Aen! get over here come on chop chop!" Aen's father stood by the barn currently trying to catch a runaway chicken who had found its way free from the coop, the sight in itself was very comedic considering Aen's father's appearance._

 _Aen's father was large burly man with an equally burly face and beard to go with the rest of his body, and seeing such a large man failing to catch a chicken was a funny sight to see, and Aen couldn't help but chuckle. "Dammit Aen stop laughin' at me and get your ass over here and help me catch this thing, we can't be one egg short for when the traders come by!" With a smile on his face Aen ran after the chicken in an attempt to catch it, but Aen's father's trouble was now known to Aen as he too was failing to catch the runaway chicken, after many attempts to catch the chicken Aen and his father devised a plan to catch the runaway chicken, "Alright Aen, on three we'll both go from different directions and get em'" Aen got down and ready to run after the chicken, "Got it dad" Aen's father too got into a ready position as he began his countdown._

 _"One,"_

 _"Two"_

 _"THREE"_

 _Aen and his dad both bolted after the frenzied chicken and proceeded to dive towards it, their actions were not in vain as Aen was able to grab the chicken by the leg before it could escape from the two. "HaHa we got em'!" Aen pulled the chicken back into his arms and carried it back over to the chicken coop where he plopped it down onto the ground inside the coop so that it wouldn't escape. "How did you even lose her in the first place dad?" Aen questioned his father, who rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment before responding, "Well, you know how you told me that the gate needed a new lock and I refused to get a new one" Aen gave him an expectant look and his father continued, "Well the lock came undone and the door opened, don't worry though I was able to get the door closed and fixed before all of the chickens escaped, but that one still got out" Aen's father sent a glare towards the coop in annoyance. "Ha! I told you that the lock needed fixing!" Aen smiled a victorious grin at his father proud that he was right._

 _"Well I guess you were right, now wipe that smirk off your face and help me bring the horses out" Aen loved his father but he was stubborn man, which led to many accidents around the farm because he would not listen to any advice, although the accidents were never anything big Aen worried that one day it may be something big. Aen followed his father into the barn and began to unlock the stall of the first horse so that it could exit the barn and leave into the field where it would graze for the remainder of the day, "Morning Remington, how you doing, I know it was a little rainy last night, but the roof held back all the water just fine, no need to-" Aen was interrupted by his father's annoyed yell, "Aen stop talking to the horses already and just get him outside will ya'" Aen sent a frown his father's way and turned back to the horse and whispered, "Don't worry about him, he's just angry because he couldn't catch the chicken this morning" Aen's whispering wasn't quiet enough though as his father had heard the whole thing. "Aen!" Aen quickly apologized and took Remington outside to the field while his dad led the other two horses out right behind him._

 _As father and son had finished their job of guiding the horses outside, they heard a yell from the house, "Sebastian, Aen! Breakfast is ready come get it while it's still hot!" Aen and his father made their way towards the house, their mouths watering every step of the way there. Aen could smell the delicious food from where he was standing, and judging by the smell it was probably eggs again, Aen was heartbroken at the fact that he couldn't smell bacon from the house, bacon was a rare pleasantry during breakfast, but when it was stacked on the plates, it never disappointed. As Sebastian and Aen arrived at the house Aen's mother turned around with two plates in her hand , each having scrambled eggs stacked on top and placed them at the table where another plate already sat, "I was going to make some bacon but it turns out that we are out, sorry that I couldn't make you something nice for your birthday Aen" His birthday... oh yeah, Aen had completely forgotten about his birthday. Aen wasn't all that surprised that he forgot his birthday though because nothing very special or memorable happened when his birthday came around so it made sense that he would forget his birthday, he wouldn't forget his age though, "Oh yeah, thirteen, I'm officially a man now!" Aen smiled a toothy grin and looked towards his father with a knowing smile on his face, "I'm finally old enough to ride the horse now, right Dad!"_

 _Sebastian smiled back, "I don't know, what do you think Evelyn?" Aen's mother smiled a mocking grin before looking at Aen, "I don't know Aen, maybe we should wait until next year to see you riding" Aen adorned a defeated look "Ah come on!" Both of Aen's parents laughed and assured him that he would start his riding lessons tomorrow, which helped to make Aen's birthday all the better. Aen sat down ready to eat breakfast, he couldn't help but practically inhale the food as he was very exited to get the day finished so that he could start riding tomorrow. As Aen was eating his food at a pace that shouldn't be considered healthy he couldn't help but hear a faint ringing in the back of his head, though Aen shrugged it off and continued to eat faster than he should be. As breakfast continued the noise assuredly got louder, but again, Aen shrugged it off which is a habit he shouldn't get to deep into. But the presence of the ringing slowly but surely got louder as he continued to eat his breakfast until it was too much for Aen to bare._

 _Aen's head felt as though it was about to burst, the ringing was so loud that he could not even hear his own screams of pain as his parents franticly tried to find out what was wrong. Aen closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands in an attempt to blot out the deafening drone, his actions proved fruitless as he was unable to blot out the ringing. It got louder and louder and louder until Aen finally passed out from the noise unable to bare one more second of the hellish ringing..._

-S-

When Aen opened his eyes all he could see was darkness, not a single thing was in sight, all around him was darkness so thick he could cut it with a knife. Aen not only was unable to feel his body but he also felt weightless, whether it was due to the absence of his body or the abyss around him, Aen would never know. As Aen sat there floating within the endless abyss, he tried to recall the events which led him to this situation. It was all foggy though he could remember little bits of the events past, but not all of it was recallable. While he could not remember all of the events of the night, he could remember one thing in specific... He was killed, by Seraphim.

While Aen remembered arriving at the desert ruins he couldn't remember what had transpired within the desert ruins aside from the fight that ended his life just outside of the ruins. If Aen was truly killed, then where was he right now? Surely he was not in Elysium, or as the other religious groups called it; heaven. Aen was very sure that Elysium was not at all an endless abyss, while it may not be the promised land of paradise, Aen was certain that it was most definitely not a black abyss. So if Aen was not in Elysium, then where was he residing, it could not be hell as he had served the gods, and hell was only reserved for the lowest of the low so that they may be eternally tortured by the demons that reside there. So then there was only one place left that would make sense.

A place that exists between heaven and hell, between good and evil, between light and dark. Only one place.

Purgatory...

Why was Aen in purgatory, for what reason would he be put here, he could not think of a reason as to why the gods had not allowed his accession, was it because he had failed his task of destroying Seraphim? Had the gods been disappointed in him and this is his punishment? Or... Had the gods been killed by Seraphim and there was nothing left of Elysium? If that was the case and Seraphim had truly destroyed the gods and their sanctuary, then this would be the worst punishment anyone would ever have to experience. Forever floating in the abyss knowing that you have failed at a task you have devoted your life to, and that all of the people you know are dead and all blame it on your failure, its just too much to bare.

As Aen floated on in the abyss he couldn't purge those thoughts from his mind, after all, failing at a task as grand as that and having to bare the fact that you have failed, is not so easy to forget. So Aen did what anyone would do in his situation, he broke down, he blocked it all out, the memories, the death, _his_ death... He simply, just closed his eyes, and blocked it all out. He had broken down, he could not bare to face his failure head on.

Minutes, hours, days? Years? passed within the secluded abyss, it was hard to keep track of time when the only way to keep track of it was by counting it out, the absence of the sun did not help to ease his time counting troubles either. All that mattered was that the time within the abyss was long, very long... and the torture that came with solitude was the worst kind of torture one could endure, as the pain would never reside until the isolation was withdrawn, and being within the everlasting abyss did nothing to ease the torture. When the whole basis of the torture method relied on seclusion, the abyss would be any torturer's go-to for everlasting mental anguish.

A slew of time passed before Aen's eyes could make out a strange shape in the distance of the abyss. What could possible be in the abyss with him, certainly there couldn't be any other person in the abyss with him, aside from a god that is, as they have the power to travel between the principalities created by man, but the gods were killed, surely they were, or else Aen would have been in Elysium by now. Had one escaped and survived?

Aen rushed forward with his omitted body in a display of hope, maybe this could be the way out, his way to freedom! As Aen got closer and closer to the distant figure it grew brighter and brighter against the imperishable abyss that had surrounded his being. Aen's eyes were blinded by the light, stealing away his vision before a gasp was heard among the deafening silence of the abyss. The light instantly dimmed and Aen was able to conceive the humanoid form of a robed figure, which stood at least a head taller than Aen.

The pearly white robes, the intricate golden designs, sophisticated attire, and the golden crown. All this attire was just how it was described... a god.

"Aen... Aen is that you, please tell me that's you Aen" It was a god... it had to be, there was no other explanation... and the voice, it sounded so familiar. "...Aesir?..." Aen's voice was gravelly and harsh, and it did nothing to ease the figure's worries about Aen.

"By the stars... Aen what happened to you" Aesir sounded worried, very, very worried. "What is wrong Aesir? Tell me, please Aesir, what is it?" Aen's voice was solemn and pleading as he just wished to leave this horrid abyss. "My stars, Aen it really is you!finally, it has been far too long since-" Aesir cut short, his voice catching in his throat so as to not worry Aen any more then he already was. "Since what Aesir? Since what!? What has happened Aesir!?" Aen's voice, still broken as it was still carried an aura of authority upon it, and Aesir could not but comply. "Seraphim Aen... it was Seraphim. He passed into Elysium and killed Balder and Eir, I held him off from the palace and since, have locked myself away inside so that he may not reach me. I'm so sorry Aen, I'm sorry I could not allow you to ascend..."

Aesir had allowed the destruction of Elysium? Aen was disgusted at this god's behavior, the once proud and mighty Aesir reduced to nothing but a cowering craven. He had the power in his being to destroy Seraphim, why did he choose to lock himself away and watch his world fall apart instead of taking up arms, the cowardice of his once defiant master repulsed Aen. "You coward! Why did you allow Seraphim to destroy everything close to everyone! Why did you allow your kingdom to fall apart at its seems as you just stood idly by and watched, WHY YOU BASTARD!"

Aesir stood silently with a somber look as he allowed Aen to vent his anger, what he was about to tell him, and _show_ him was not pleasant in the slightest and it would do him no good to have Aen angry.

"Aen you most understand, physically I could not kill him. Upon your defeat the last seal keeping him from entering Elysium was broken, you were that seal Aen. He entered heaven, but only by going through the abyss was he able to enter Elysium. Any demons would be immediately purged if they came through, 'traditionally.' But, unbeknownst to us, his trek through the abyss had strengthened him, I am not sure if he knew the abyss would have such a reaction to him, but if he did, it had most certainly helped him. We thought that he would come through with his original strength and we could banish him back to hell for many more years. We would train another champion and all would be just." Aesir looked defeated, and sighed in preparation for the continuation of his recounting.

"But when he came through it was overwhelming, his power was monumental, we could not hold him back. He started by slaughtering the sentries and valkyries that had guarded the palace, and when Balder and I came fourth from the palace to face him, he faced us. To spare you the details of the fight, Balder was slain, and when Eir came fourth to help, she met the same fate. I retreated to the palace, where I sealed the doors, those doors were the strongest thing to ever grace my eyes Aen, Nothing would get through them, not one thing could make it through not even Seraphim in his strengthened form. So when Seraphim could not pass through, he turned to your world instead"

Aen visibly flinched at the mention of his world. "Aen... it was destroyed, all of it, not a thing was left" Aen's stomach dropped. Gone? Everything he ever knew, gone? Not a thing left all of it, gone. "Truly? is all truly gone?..." Aen asked Aesir this question, sadness practically oozing from his very being. He just wanted to walk off back into the abyss and forget everything ever happened, he just wanted to become one with the abyss and let it make him forget.

Although, there was one thing that kept Aen from up and giving up then, a strong burning desire of revenge, revenge against Seraphim. If he left now he would lose any chance he had at exacting revenge on Seraphim.

Even if he truly could not defeat Seraphim he still wanted to at least become a nuisance to the demon, if he could cause the demon any harm in any way, whether it be mentally of physically, he did not care. As long as he was able to hurt the demon in some way, anyway, it didn't matter, then he would be content.

"Yes Aen, all is gone. Do not leave yet, hope still remains."

"While the abyss is eternal, the world is not, everything in the abyss lasts forever, albeit with minor side effects, yet everything in the abyss remains. However outside of the abyss those rules do not apply. Eventually everything will perish, no matter what it is, it will all dwindle away in due time, even me. As long as the palace in Elysium still stands then I will still stand, if the palace falls then I will fall, but with the destruction of Elysium, no mortal that has passed can come to Elysium for sanctuary in the afterlife. Hence why I stand before you weakened, fore without the power and belief of man, I become weaker. But your belief still burns strong, which gives me the necessary strength needed to prevail." Aen was beginning to get annoyed with the god's convoluted speech and ushered him to get to the point.

"Ok Aesir enough of this, tell me what you are trying to say already, will you?" Aen interrupted with an annoyed tone.

Aesir sighed and continued on with his explanation, "What I'm trying to say is that Seraphim's power will eventually dwindle, he will eventually become nothing more than what he was when you fought him. His power will diminish and his rule over the world will collapse, everything will come crashing down for him... and it will all start anew. He will retreat back to hell when he no longer feels the need to rule, and man will rise again and rebuild from the dust of the past, but like always, Seraphim will crawl right back out of hell and return to rule man once again" Aen understood what Aesir was trying to say, but he had caught one small fault in what he wanted.

"Aesir, I hope you do know we will have to wait a millennia within the abyss if you wish for Seraphim to lose his power and for this to work, and before that time is even up we will have lost our minds from seclusion."

Aesir only let out a solemn grin before looking Aen straight in the face, "What you don't understand Aen, is that time is already up"

Realization had suddenly struck Aen in the face with a hammer as he took in what Aesir had just told him, what had felt like only a short while within the abyss, was actually a millennia.

"My Gods, Aesir how long has it been!? How long have I been secluded within the abyss!" Aen was frantic, just how long was he in here? He was aware of the fact that he had been within the abyss for a long time, but it did not occur to him that it had been a millennia.

"Aen, I am not sure of the time length myself, but what I can tell you is that Seraphim has lost his tremendous power, and his rule over man. While he is no longer so strong that you may not kill him, he is unequivocally stronger than when you last fought him."

Aen took a moment to calm himself before he continued on with his talk when Aen had yet again spotted another flaw in Aesir's plan, and he sought to point it out before Aesir continued on in his explanation, "I know what you are thinking Aen, and yes I know that you were unable to defeat him last time, I had my worries that you would not be able to defeat him while he is stronger, but now that I look at you I expect that you will be on somewhat more level fighting grounds considering your... condition." Aesir grimaced knowing that now would come the time to point out Aen's body.

"Aen, before you ask anything please step into the light from my lamp" Aen complied with Aesir's request and when he entered the enchanted lamplight he was finally able to make out his entire body form, which was still covered in armor. The armor's damage still showed as the hole in the center of his breastplate was present along side the many other cuts and dents that adorned his armor from his fight with Seraphim. The only thing missing was the helmet, which was ripped from his head during his fight with Seraphim allowing Aen's face to show to Aesir.

Aesir grabbed hold of Aen's shoulder and held the lamp high above the two of them, "This enchanted lamp allowed me passage through the abyss unharmed and without side effects, and now it shall show us the way out, now focus closely on the lamp and envision Elysium's palace."

Aen did as he was told and gazed into the lamp's placid glow, envisioning Elysium's palace in his mind. While Aen had never seen Elysium's palace he still had a vague idea of what it looked like, and that was sufficient enough for the beacon.

Aen's vision faded alongside his body and the lamp allowed Aen his freedom from the abyss. When Aen's vision faded back into existence he was able to make out the dilapidated pearly white ceiling of Elysium's palace with intricate designs depicting wyverns and angels. When he looked down his eyes were greeted with the sight of dilapidated white columns holding up the high ceiling, the room he stood in must have been the main amphitheater due to the amount of open room, and not to forget the large statue of Balder holding a masterfully crafted sword at the back wall.

"So this is what the palace looks like" Aen scoffed, "I wish I could have seen it during its glory days and not in the run down state it is in now."

"Well, it is how it is now." Aesir said as he walked past Aen each footstep echoing in the open room as he walked towards to statue of Balder. "Come, I most show you your current condition." Aen followed after Aesir who walked down the hallway at the back wall of the room near the base of the statue of Balder that Aen had failed to notice before.

The walk down the hallway was long, each twist and turn leaving Aen to wonder how Aesir was able to remember where he was going. After the final turn, the hallway opened up into a bedroom of sorts, or altar for a better description. The room was comfortable to be in, even in it's dilapidated state, with a masterfully crafted red carpet and equally masterfully crafted red cushioned chairs to add to the overall feel of the room. The most prominent feature in the room however was the large mirror on the wall which reflected Aesir.

Aesir stood in front of Aen blocking his view of the mirror and said to Aen in a calming voice, "Now listen to me Aen, what you are about to see may be hard to comprehend at first glance, I myself did not believe it on my first glance, keep in mind what I told you about the abyss's side effects, now please try to stay calm." With that closing remark Aesir stepped out of the way to show Aen his reflection in the mirror.

Aen gazed into the mirror at first seeing nothing but his worn down and battle damaged armor, but as Aen studied his armor, he noticed something out of place. The hole in the center of his armor which should have lead to flesh and blood, instead only showed the faint outline of Aen's sternum. Aen's heart pounded at this new discovery and he slowly paned his vision up towards his uncovered face where he stopped and took it all in.

Where skin, eyes, hair, and the scar that ran across his left eye should have been was instead nothing but bone. In the place of his young head was an age old skull, his skin had long since rotted away in the abyss along with his eyes and hair, leaving nothing but a withered skull in the place of his head. The abyss had even taken the liberty of replacing his eyes with a green orb and gray orb similar to Seraphim's red ones in place of his old eyes. The rest of his body did not come out unscathed either, his hands, legs, chest, all had long since rotted away in the abyss, turning him into nothing other than a walking skeleton.

Aen's new body shook in fear of what he had become, he had turned into an undead corpse, he shouldn't be alive right now. He bet this was all a dream and he would wake up any second now on his farm house in the middle of the many fields that surrounded it. He would wake up any second now, it wouldn't take long...

Aen was snapped from his thoughts by the sound of Aesir's voice from behind him reassuring Aen that this was not in fact, the dream he wished it was. "Now you see Aen that the abyss has taken its toll upon your body, you still live through the power of the abyss that has tainted your soul, and I regret to tell you that this needed to be done if we ever had any chance of defeating Seraphim."

With a somber but accepting tone Aen spoke slowly. "So this is what I have become, all because of my role as the gods' champion" Aen watched in the mirror as his jaw moved up and down doing an impressive job of replicating his old mouth's movements as he talked. "I see what you mean now Aesir, its all very clear to me now" Aen traced an armored hand across his skull as he came to terms with his newly discovered body.

"My failure was not foretold, but instead used as a trick to scare me. In the end Seraphim was equally worried with facing me, but he did what he does best, and that is striking fear in the hearts' of man and champion alike. So before he faced me he did everything he could to unsettle me so that his fight may be easier, and when it worked, and he won, he knew that passing through the abyss would be his only way into Elysium or else he would be purged if he came through 'traditionally.' But he also knew that traversing through the abyss would cause a side effect upon his being. Whether it was good or bad he did not know, but he was willing to take that chance all in his resentment towards you." He pointed towards Aesir with his armored hand.

"And when his chance payed off he was rewarded with the power to defeat you, Balder, and, Eir. And when he succeeded in destroying Balder and Eir, you caught on to his power scheme and fled to the palace so that you may wait for his power to subside, but not without great losses. Elysium, and my homeland all destroyed by Seraphim. You knew that if you allowed me to ascend than you would lose your last chance at defeating Seraphim, because if you allowed my ascension than Seraphim would have slain my spirit not allowing you to rebirth me. So instead you hid my body inside of the abyss for ages past until Seraphim's power subsided and you would deem it safe to search for my body within the abyss."

Aen turned away from the mirror and looked at Aesir with a dead stare, and said one thing before adorning what could only be similar to a grin on his dead face.

"Good Job"

Aesir was completely taken off guard by Aen's response, he expected Aen to resent him and lash out at him, he was even ready to use holy magic to restrain him if he needed it. The last thing Aesir had expected Aen to say to him was "Good Job." If anything Aesir felt like he had done a horrible job, he had allowed the destruction of the overworld and Elysium. The last thing he would consider that is a job well done, It was anything but. Aesir was about to protest before Aen spoke up before him.

"While I am earnestly disappointed with my new body and the destruction of my world, I can not help but commend you on your plan. It was well thought out and I have to come to terms with what has happened eventually, it would do neither of us any good if I show only resentment towards you." Aen looked down to the floor preferring to study it rather than make eye contact with Aesir. Aen walked away from the mirror with a somber stride before stopping at the room's exit with his back turned to Aesir and his head held low.

"Tell me what I need to do, I hate Seraphim just as much as you do, and I am sure we both want him dead. So there's our common goal to work towards."

Aesir could not suppress the grin on his face as he walked towards Aen with a smile on his face. "I guess your right, how about we get you down to the armory then"

Aen stood with an impressively replicated smile on his face and responded in a giddy tone, "That sounds fun"

-S-

After another series of winding hallways, the god and accursed had arrived within Balder's armory. Balder's armory was a sight to behold as it had supplied all of the valkyries and sentries that had acted as the palace guardians. These valkyries were some of the most skilled fighters Aen had ever happened upon, and good fighters required good gear, and there was most certainly not a shortage of good weapons and armor inside the armory.

While Aen would have loved to wear a suit of valkyrie armor, Aesir had suggested otherwise and that Aen repair his old armor instead. As much as Aen would have loved to wear a suit of valkyrie armor, he knew that Aesir was right about that decision. The valkyrie suits were far too heavy and impractical with all there decorations for Aen to wear anyways, also considering the fact that the valkyrie suits were designed more for intimidation than they were for protection. Also not to mention they were extremely heavy weight fighters whereas Aen was not.

Upon their arrival to the armory, Aesir had immediately lead Aen to the back of the large room where a heavy metal door found its home in the wall, all the while Aen was observing the masterfully crafted weapons.

"Ok Aen, here is your first test. Since your body no longer uses flesh and muscle, then you should be physically much stronger than you were before. Without the limits of your muscles to hold you down you should be able to perform tasks you could not with your old body" Aesir gestured to the large metal door that blocked the entrance to the armory's forge.

"I myself struggle to open this door due to its immense weight, if you can open this door, or at least get it to budge then I will know that you unquestionably have grown in strength without your muscle's limits."

Aen walked up to the door and laid both of his withered hands upon the metal door. He began to push and was rewarded with the sound of the door's metal material grinding against the stone floor, Aen was surprised with his newfound strength and doubled his efforts in opening the door. Aen was able to open the heavy door with relative ease, proving that without his muscle's limits, he had unquestionably grown stronger than when he had a body of flesh.

"Very impressive Aen, I fear the strength of your new sword arm" Aesir smiled a warming grin, which Aen failed to replicate.

"If I was able to open this door with little trouble than I fear what I would do with a light touch. Aesir are sure this is safe?" Aen's worries did not fall upon deaf ears as Aesir had worried about this same predicament. "Hence the reason why I put restraints on your new armor, with your new strength I would find it hazardous to allow you to waltz about with no handicaps."

"Now for the reason why I made you open this door, if you will follow me I shall show you Balder's old forge" Aen stepped through the threshold and was awestruck by the former god's forge. The ceiling was high, although not as high as the main room's top, but without a doubt, it was high. Rows upon rows of weapons lined the walls all sitting neatly in their racks on the walls, maces, swords, knifes, hammers, _halberds_ , Aen noted that last one with distaste, all sat at the ready waiting to fell their opponents. And the coup' de grace sat at the back of the room in the form of a large forge all made of the finest materials, unlike the ones of his world.

Aen stepped forward to the forge admiring it every step of the way. "Now this is a forge. It makes the finest forges of my world look like an apprentice's kit." Aen was drawn in by the forge's grand demeanor and he immediately found his way towards the armory's workbench made specifically for repairing and enhancing armor.

"Quite the forge isn't it Aen. Unfortunately I do not know how to smith as well as Balder did and can only provide you the backup gear that Balder had forged in the rare case that you allowed your gear to be despoiled" Aesir walked towards the weapon rack next to the forge and pulled forth an exact replica of Aen's lost sword, which he promptly handed to Aen.

"And here I though that my gear was one of a kind" Aen responded with distaste as he gazed upon the new sword. "It shall suffice Aen, I know it may be a disappointment to you that you are not one of a kind, but backups were necessary in the off chance your gear was destroyed. I thank Balder's foresight."

Next to where Aen's backup sword was placed, he also found a replica of his shield and armor, all in pristine condition, no chips or dents unlike his current gear. "I guess now would be the ideal time to take a look at the rest of my decayed body."

Aen then proceeded to remove his armor from his body not worrying about any decency now that he nothing but a tainted soul guiding a skeleton. Aen's worries never subsided as he proceeded to remove his armor, revealing more and more bone in the process until he was stripped of his armor leaving nothing but a standing skeleton in his wake.

"I had hoped that only my head was effected, but it appears now that it is not the case I had hoped for..." With a downcast attitude Aen adorned his replica armor successfully covering every inch of his cursed body in the process.

The armor did an impressive job of making it look like nothing had ever happened and that Aen was still human, aside from one thing. Aen's 'eyes' shone brightly inside the closed helmet allowing two orbs to shine brightly through the eye holes of his helmet putting out an eerie aura, this surely stood out against the rest of his armor. Aen sheathed his replica sword at his side in his new sheath and strapped his newfangled shield to his back in its previous easily accessible position.

"I am ready Aesir, tell me where Seraphim is and I shall hunt him down" Aen's orbs narrowed in determination for the task that lay ahead of him, ready for anything that may stand in his way.

"I wish it were that simple Aen. As of right now Seraphim is still in hiding and has yet to rear his face, so I suggest that you start by searching for him in this new land, gather allies, make friends, the more people you have on your side the better off you will be when you confront him" Aen snapped around and faced Aesir.

"You expect me to find him! Aesir this world may seem small to you, but to me it is gargantuan! I would never be able to find him while he hides, if you can't find him what makes you think I could find find him!" Aen was yet again annoyed by the god's behavior, how did he expect him to find Seraphim. If a god could not find him, then what could a man do, albeit a cursed and undying man.

"Aen you must understand that I don't expect you to find him. Your arrival will be used as bait for Seraphim. When you arrive in this new world Seraphim will surely take notice and when he comes fourth from his hiding point then I will be able to alert you to his presence. It may take long for Seraphim to take notice of you though, so while you act as the bait I want you to at least attempt to make allies for when he rears his ugly head. There is no telling what he could be doing in his hiding place. For all we know he could be harnessing his strength to become stronger, so please try to make allies and not enemies Aen, it would do you more good than you expect" Aen understood what Aesir was trying to say yet again, he shouldn't get in the habit of questioning him. He always seemed to have an answer to everything.

The only thing missing from the plan was a way to contact Aesir, in case he needed to ask questions or advice while on his search. While the mind link did a good job of informing Aen, it did not work both ways so Aen could not relay information back to Aesir if needed.

"Aesir, if I ever need to contact you than how shall I do so. If I come across something big in my search than how may I alert you?" Aen asked in a questioning tone.

"I already have that covered Aen, do not worry" Of course Aesir did, he always had an answer for everything.

Aesir turned and reached into one of the many containers and chests in the forge and pulled forth a strange looking ovular stone. "This is a disquisition stone" Aesir held up the stone to show Aen. The stone was rough on one side sporting many harsh and angular rocks, and on the other side was a smooth and sleek reflective glass-like plain. The flat plain shone a dull reflective purple and was smooth to the touch, not that Aen could feel it anyway, but he was able to tell just by examining it.

"If you ever wish to talk to me, just tap the surface of the flat side of the stone and gaze into, I have a similar stone and it will glow and vibrate alerting me to your call, the same goes for you when I call upon you. If I too gaze into the stone, your face will become visible upon the stones surface and mine for yours, any words spoken will be heard through the stone, effectively making it a form of communication" Aesir handed the disquisition stone to Aen who promptly put it inside of one of the many convenient pouches on his armor.

"Now Aen I am going to send you on your way very soon, but first you must remember that this world is not as it used to be. While you were in the abyss I observed this world as it grew and progressed. This world is most strange indeed... Whereas your world used magic in their advances, this world uses what they call science." Aen only responded with a confused tilt of his head.

"Allow me to elaborate. With the discovery of magic, your world advanced differently. You conceived gods and created the great cities that your fellow man lived in. On the other hand, this world bypassed the discovery of magic and instead became scholars. They learned of the worlds workings and created machines the likes of which you have never seen before. With the concept of science, these people had no need for gods as they deemed them 'unscientific' and without the gods there would be no creation of a champion to stop the inevitable demon attacks." Aesir's explanation was making no leeway with Aen, compliment of Aen's dumbfounded glare. So Aesir resorted to the only other method of teaching he knew, although he knew Aen would not like it, as he never did when he used it before.

"Alright Aen I know you don't like it when I do this, but this seems like this is the only way to be able to explain this to you." Aesir sighed before he put a hand on top of Aen's helmeted head. "I am going to transfer the information into your mind and then you will understand."

Aen instantly recoiled away from his hand knowing all to well what he was about to do, and considering the amount of information he was going to transfer, it would hurt a lot.

"You wouldn't" Aen narrowed his glowing eyes at Aesir, he hated when the gods did this before.

"I'm sorry Aen but this is the only way" Aesir sighed and moved to put his hand on his head when Aen grabbed his hand stopping him from continuing. He looked like a defeated child. "Please?" Aen looked like a defeated child even more now that he was practically begging like one.

Aesir just sighed and pulled his grip free, "Your lucky that I had put strength restraint enchantments on that armor prior to your arrival, here else you may cracked my hand." Aesir rubbed his hand making sure that no damage had been done to his being, before continuing. "Now please don't act like a child Aen and just let me show you this world's state" Aen sighed in defeat and allowed Aesir to place his hand on his head.

In an instant it all came flooding in like a tidal wave of knowledge. He saw it all, he knew everything Aesir knew, he saw the discovery of dust, he saw the advancements of science, he saw the cities being built to keep the grimm at bay, it all came flooding in. The faunas, the racism, the hunters, it all flew into his skull. And then it stopped. As soon as it had arrived it had disappeared, but with the transfer of knowledge came the mental pain. Aen's entire mind ached, his whole mind was overflowing with knowledge. It felt as though Seraphim's blade had stabbed into his mind and twisted the blade to add insult to injury. The mental pain then subsided so that it could make way for the physical pain. However, the physical pain never came, he didn't feel the dull ache across his body that usually accompanied the mental pain. He didn't even feel any of it, the pain was there though, it surely was, but he did not feel it. He acknowledged that the pain was there, he knew it was, but it did not hurt, it was the strangest sensation Aen had ever felt.

Aesir then interjected, pulling Aen from his thoughts, "Just as I suspected, you cannot feel physical pain. Usually you would have been showing signs of pain by now, I saw the mental pain's sign, yet I did not see the signs of your physical pain. You can't feel physical pain, a blessing and a curse it seems." Aen just studied his hands still trying to take in everything he just learned.

"Nevermind the pain factor Aesir, I never knew it was possible to create such machines. It is truly miraculous." Aen was dumbfounded, how was man able to create... 'robots' as they called them. Not only did the robots catch his eye, but their vehicles as well. Flying blocks of metal that held people within them, it was truly a sight to behold, and not to mention their ships, who would have known that a hunk of metal could float, nevermind carry even bigger hunks of metal without sinking. All this certainly would have been useful during his time, the possibilities of these machines uses in his time were endless.

"I know it is impressive Aen, but what apprehends my attention is these 'grimm.' Whether they are demons leftover from Seraphim's rule, or simply a creature that happened to appear to thwart man's doings I do not know, but anyhow they are still a strange specimen." Aesir sighed and cleared his throat before addressing Aen about the matter at hand.

"Enough about this world's creations and creatures, while it is truly wondrous it is not the problem at hand." Aesir stepped back from Aen allowing him room so that he may gather his thoughts before he continued with his explanation of the plan.

"Now that you know of this world, allow me to direct you." Aesir then began his explanation of what Aen should do.

"Do not reveal too much about yourself Aen, or anything about my existence for that matter, and most importantly do not reveal the existence of magic. I do not want to draw too much attention to you too fast, if Seraphim comes fourth from his hiding before due time, then fighting him will be all the harder. Now that you know of the world's academies for huntsmen and huntresses, you know the best places to look for allies. I suggest you start your search in the most prestigious of all the academies, Beacon."

Aen eagerly replied to Aesir ready to leave the palace and start his search. "Well then it seems like the plan is all set and ready, send me on my way to Beacon and we shall begin, shall we not?" Aesir yet again corrected Aen about the plan for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day before elaborating on why Aen could not just appear within Vale's borders unannounced.

"As much as I would like to send you right into Vale, I cannot do that. The only way I can return you to the mortal realm is by recompensing you to the place where you were killed. This is the way revival works, why that is I do not know, this was something you would have to ask Eir as she was more adept in these matters than I." Aesir took a deep breath in preparation for the task ahead, "So you would have to be revived in what this world calls the Vacuo desert, and from there you will begin your journey to Beacon. Start by heading north to the city of Vacuo, and from that point travel by boat towards the city of Vale, it would be the most efficient route."

Aen acknowledged Aesir's directions and asked one last question before Aesir would send him on his way, "One thing that failed to get transferred was the name of this new world, if you do not mind, may you tell me?"

"Remnant. The world's name is Remnant, fitting is it not?" Aen just nodded his head in agreement a replica of a smile finding its home on his deceased face under his helmet, "It is"

After the brief silence that covered the two was lifted from the atmosphere, Aesir gave Aen one last piece of equipment. He handed Aen the enchanted lamp he had used to pass through the abyss, "If you ever want to return back to the palace, just peer in the lamp's glow and use it to traverse the abyss safely, from there you should be able to return to the palace. When you leave from the palace it will return you to your previous position on remnant, make good use of it." Aen grabbed hold of the lamp and clipped it to his belt, letting it hang from his side.

"I will make sure it is put to good use. I take it you are ready to send me off?" Aesir nodded in agreement and put both of his hands on Aen's shoulders.

"Yes I am. Now let me begin your revival, shut your eyes and relax, imagine your resting place, picture yourself rising from the ground and rejoining the world, not as a man, but as champion." With that closing remark Aesir began the revival process.

Aen complied with Aesir's directions and closed his eyes, his orbs' light ceasing to glow. He imagined the dune where his body had been smothered, he imagined himself rising from the sand and pulling the sword that had imbed him into the ground free from his body, he imagined himself coming back stronger than he'll ever be, he imagined himself coming back, as a champion...

-S-

When Aen opened his eyes he was greeted by the shining sun lying high above him. He did not see the palace ceiling, he did not see the abyss's endless darkness, no, he saw the sun in all of its glory, he saw it shining high above the world acting as the giver of life that it was.

Aen got to his feet and thousands of grains of sand fell from his new armor landing upon the desert ground. All the sand around him was just as he remembered it on his last day, it was the only thing that remained of his world, the age old sand. The sand that had caused him so much annoyance when he traveled, the sand that had acted as his grave, the sand that had encased his sins, the sand that was home to his long lost footprints. It was then that Aen remembered his old promise, that he would walk back down the dune and past his footprints, locking his sins away in the desert. Maybe he could keep that promise, maybe all hope of keeping that promise was not gone.

Aen could not hold himself back, he walked towards the south, opposite of where he needed to be going, he would keep his promise. When he reached the edge of the dune he could not see his old footprints, but he knew that even if they were not there, that the promise was still there. He walked down the dunes leaving his new footprints, the footprints of a champion, not of a failed hero, not of a cursed man, not of a tainted corpse, but of a champion.

When he reached the bottom of the dune he knew that he had kept his promise, he had kept a promise that had been one he never thought he could uphold.

Upon his arrival at the bottom of the dune he turned and started back up the dune, leaving yet another set of footprints. Though these were not footprints that held sins, no, these were footprints that held promises. Promises of a better world, promises not of a decayed corpse, but promises of a champion, and when he continued north away from his resting place he left even more footprints. He made no promise to cleanse these footprints, these footprints needed no cleansing, fore these were the footprints of a champion...

-S-

 **A/N: Wow that took way too long to write. Part of the reason being because I forgot that my middle school was going on a three day trip to Washington D.C and when I got back I ended up getting sick which took another couple days of the wait time, and to add even more to the list of things that kept me from writing, is good old procrastination. Well anyway the chapter is out now and I would like to give bankerrtx01 a special shout out for giving me the motivation I needed to wright this chapter. Let me tell you it is a lot easier to write when you know that you got people out there that like your work and would like to see more of it, so I would like thank you yet again Banker (Is it ok if I call you that?) for giving me the motivation I needed to write. Also now that I'm past all of the exposition crap it will be a lot easier for me to write because now I can start revealing more of the characters I got in mind and all that jazz. The things that I felt were bad about was how easily Aen was able accept everything that was going on and how easily he let go of his grudge against Aesir. While I would have liked Aen to be more resentful against Aesir, it would just make the story too hard to write later on as Aesir is going to be a huge part of it. One last thing I want to mention is the fact I have always loved the idea of undead characters and skeleton warriors, hence the reason why Aen is basically a walking skeleton. I hope I did a good job with the explanation as to why Aen is undead and the way Elysium fell. If you noticed any flaws in the plot or mistakes then let me know in the comments, as much as people hate hearing criticism from others, it is always needed. So throw it at me. Again special thanks to you Banker, I hope you continue to read this story, you really gave me the motivation to write. Anyways my dudes thanks for reading and leave a review if you think this chapter was pretty toasty.**

 **\- Stay toasty, from Loasty of the Toasty**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The return of a champion

Aen's age old hate for deserts found itself resurfacing as he made his trek through the desert. Just as always, traveling through the desert was painstakingly boring, no scenery, nothing to admire, no trees to sit under and relax, just sand. Although Aen was not pleased with his new body, it did have its perks. For example, the fact that he did not have to eat any food to keep him going was a blessing, but it also served as a constant reminder of what he has become. Aen had made this discovery during his first day of traveling, and since, he was not sure what he wanted to think about this peculiar idiosyncrasy. While it made traveling all the easier it made him feel, 'unhuman.'

Aen knew full well that he was not who he was before and that he had to let go of his past. But as much as he wanted to let go of it and free himself from his burdens, his past reminded him that he was once a person and not just a tool of the gods.

Aen replicated a grimace at the thoughts of the gods, Aesir in particular. The god was smart no doubt, an understatement considering that he was the god of knowledge... a very large understatement. Aen had always been far more fond Balder and Eir as they were far more hospitable, whereas Aesir had always been reclusive and quiet during the times the gods communicated with Aen, preferring instead to plan the next moves for Aen. And better yet, he had Eir or Balder pass of the news so that he could spend his time doing whatever it was he was does. This led to a severe lack of communication between Aesir and Aen leaving Aen at a disadvantage in how well he knew him. It's an unsettling thought knowing that one person knows everything about you, and you don't know anything about them. Aen did not have a very good opinion of Aesir to start with, and now that he was the only god left and had allowed Balder and Eir to die, he was less inclined to know more about the god than he was to begin with.

Aen pulled himself from his thoughts so that he could get a sense of where he was so that he could make sure he was heading the right way. The trip has been a long one so far and he was sure he wasn't that far off from where he needed to be. Another thing Aen had to thank his new skeletal form for was the ability to speed up his travels ten fold, no longer did he have to stop for the night and rest, now he could travel through the night due to his lack of exhaustion.

Exhaustion was one of the few things Aen did not mind to wish off. Being exhausted was probably one the least favorable feelings for Aen, constantly having to stop and rest, all the while feeling your muscles tense up with each movement... It's actually quite nice not feeling any exhaustion, skeletal form aside.

Aen looked to the star filled night sky searching for the north star, Aen had not been very good at navigation, hence the reason why he had to stick to using simple methods of travel such as the north star. If he tried to use a map he would instantly lose his way, he had far too much trouble reading directions and it often lead him to some... unfavorable locations.

Once Aen had reoriented himself he continued towards yet another large sand dune, another reason Aen hated deserts, too many sand dunes.

-S-

Upon reaching the top Aen was able to make out some lights shining a fair distance away. Aen replicated a sigh of relief at the sight of the lights, if Aesir was right than these lights were most likely the city he was looking for. Aen wondered what these cities looked like with their 'cars' and 'airships' as Aesir referred to them in the mind transfer.

The cities he lived in were relatively large and were built to hold an ever growing population, they had everything a city would need to operate, but that did not mean all cities faired as well as others. He unfortunately was unlucky enough to be raised in a more penurious region of the world, his local cities did not fair well either and were often riddled with crime. The only people who lived in those cities were people who went day to day just trying to scrape a single gold coin off the floor, crime lords, or corrupt political officials making the locals work for meager wages.

Living in areas like those was never easy, the farmers and ranchers on the borders of the cities presumptively had better working and living conditions than those in the city though. They did not have to deal with the constant thieves or the crime lords taking control over them, the only thing they ever really had to worry about was making sure their harvest was fruitful. And Aen was one of the lucky few that lived on a farm in the city outskirts.

While Aen did have it a slight margin better than those who 'lived' in the city he still had a rough time. His farm, although large, was hard to maintain, it would often flood from the runoff that came from the large mountains a small distance away from his home. Not only that, but trying to keep farm that large up and running with the small amount of people that lived there was no easy feat whatsoever.

It was then that Aen reminisced about his old home, he had many good memories from the times he spent on his farmstead, he remembered the days he spent learning to ride, he remembered the days he spent working in the barn. And one memory he'll never forget is the day his dad let the chickens lose, he remembered diving after that one chicken very vividly...

As Aen started down the dune towards the city, he was called fourth from his moment of solace by the feeling of the ground shaking beneath his feet.

The tremor grew in intensity causing the sand to ripple in one concentrated location, Aen had an idea of what was under that rippling sand... Just as Aen had concluded his thoughts a large bulbous yellow aculeus spewed forth from the ground. The aculeus was accompanied by an armored tail, which found its home at the back of an oversized black scorpion covered in a white exoskeleton. Thousands of red eyes watched Aen with an intensity only found in savage beasts, the scorpion's claws snapped in anticipation seemingly picturing Aen's body being crushed by its immense claws.

If Aen was not mistaken this had to be one of those Grimm Aesir had been so enraptured by, and judging by the looks of this one in particular, it had to be a 'Deathstalker' as they were named. Aen took a curt moment to inspect the hostile creature before him, he did not want to fight it without some proper analyses.

The two large claws located at the front of the beast would make for a difficult time if Aen decided to go head on. Aen quickly brushed aside the idea of a frontal assault and continued his analyses of the creature. The armored exoskeleton on top of it would make it practically impossible to attack from above, this omitted the idea of mounting the Grimm. Although the Grimm unquestionably had strong armor Aen knew that every suit of armor had its chinks, and that applied to beasts too. The particular chinks Aen was looking for he had located at the base of the deathstalker's claws in the space between the body and the claw and its unprotected side, along with its underbelly, which Aen could just barely make out. In a matter of seconds Aen had already devised the points he needed to attack, but the afore mentioned stinger would heavily complicate his approach. If he wanted to make it to the weak point he would first have to deal with the stinger of the deathstalker, unless he wanted his body pierced through. He already had an idea of how to deal with the stinger.

Aen drew his sword fourth from its sheath, transposing it into an estoc as he charged forward beginning his attack. Aen had not pulled forth his new shield, instead opting to conjure a sphere of ethereal ice in his off hand, now would be the best time to test his new strength.

The deathstalker started its attack by slamming its stinger into the ground in front of itself in an attempt to skewer Aen on its pointed end. The attack _would_ have landed, successfully skewering Aen had he not danced around the tenacious strike. This spin around an attack had always been a move Aen was fond of, it allowed him to move to his opponent's unguarded side with ease opening them up for a critical strike. It goes without saying that opening up with this counter can very quickly put the fight into Aen's favor, and it surely did.

With the dodge successful Aen took the opportunity to follow up with an attack which would make the fight much easier. Aen slammed his offhand into the beast's oversized stinger, the ethereal ice that had covered his hand moments before the strike transferred into the Grimm's natural weapon, doing an admirable job of freezing it, rending it immobile in the process.

With the appendage frozen and the beast distracted by the sudden strike, Aen followed up the successful attack by repeatedly stabbing the point of his estoc into the now brittle appendage. With each successful strike of Aen's new blade the deathstalker released a screech of pain reassuring Aen that his attack was making leeway. That appendage would most likely not be doing anything for the rest of the fight which gave Aen the confidence he needed to proceed with his next attack.

He transposed the estoc he was holding, allowing the golden light of holy magic to envelope his blade, turning it into a large claymore as he ran forward. Using this claymore would allow him to cut through the chinks with the weapon's cutting power, and if he missed, hitting armor, it would be heavy enough to hopefully cause some blunt trauma.

With no stinger for the Grimm to make use of it instead resorted to using its claws, which were equally as deadly as the stinger. The Grimm lunged forward opening its claw around Aen's torso and snapping it shut in an attempt to sever Aen's upper half from his lower. The attack would have been extremely lethal had Aen not successfully ducked under the oversized claw, resulting in a resounding snap from above his head. The successful dodge did not go unnoticed to the deathstalker unfortunately as it had proceeded to slam its claw down on Aen position under it. Aen had not expected such a strike from this brutish beast and unfortunately was not able to come out unscathed, he had managed to roll out of the way of the brunt of the attack but the deathstalker homed in on Aen's position, slamming him in the front of his armor with the back end of its claw, courtesy of a deadly sweep.

If Aen could still feel pain he almost certainly would have been on the ground in pain, he was actually a slight bit worried that one of his exposed ribs may have been broken by the Grimm's heavy attack. He would have to play a little more cautiously...

Aen decided to change his approach and pulled out his shield, switching the oversized claymore from a two handed grip into a one handed grip in his right hand with ease, credit to his new strength. He held his shield up in front of him and approached the beast cautiously yet aggressively whilst keeping a close eye on its claws with a newfound heedfulness, and when the beast swung it's claw in Aen's direction again he was ready for the attack.

He dodged the oversized claw leaving it open for a calamitous strike, Aen reared his sword back and sliced at one of the beast's weaker points. The strike was true and made contact with the chink in the deathstalker's armor, Aen was surprised by his own strength when the claw had been severed from the beast's body in one strike. Aen watched as the severed appendage dropped to the ground with a thump sand puffing up around the dropped body part. The claw then started to flake away in a fashion similar to that of when Aen transposes his weapon, it continued to flake away and dissolve until nothing but sand remained where the claw once lied moments before. Aen would have taken more time to analyze the strange happening had the beast not released a loud screech drawing his attention back to the fight at hand.

In a last ditch effort the deathstalker charged forward with all of its might trying desperately to flatten Aen with its charge. Aen rolled out of the way of the charge narrowly avoiding a devastating charge. If Aen did not wish to be flattened by the beast he would have to end the fight soon and swiftly. Aen put a plan into motion that would swiftly kill the beast if all went well, and charged towards the beast... all he needed was to bait an attack. The deathstalker saw the charge and sought to crush Aen with a heavy downward slam from its remaining claw, but this was just what Aen needed to execute his plan.

The claw came speeding down towards Aen but had missed its intended target as Aen had backstepped safely out of the attack's effective range. He then took advantage of this opportunity and proceeded to use the claw as a makeshift springboard to launch himself in the air above the beast. With the stinger immobile it would make it impossible for the deathstalker to stop the incoming lethal attack, allowing Aen the perfect opportunity to unleash an immaculate attack.

Midair Aen had transposed the oversized claymore into a yari, which was far more suited for the upcoming attack, Aen pointed the end of the yari towards the beast's carapace preparing to attack. The beast's ten eyes watched as Aen flew right past it's defense priming himself for a fatal strike, even if Aen had gotten past it's defense the beast still held confidence in its carapace's strength.

The beast's confidence was soon smitten as Aen had jammed his yari through its armor and in to it's feeble innards. Aen's guess on the location of the vitals was made fact by the wails of the deathstalker beneath him, to make sure that this creature would not get back up he twisted the yari's blade while it was still embedded in the body of the Grimm eliciting an even louder wail of agony than before. Aen was not fond of leaving lose ends, so for assurance proceeded to stab the yari's blade in and out of the beast until it went limp, and then added a few more for extra assurance.

When Aen dismounted the mutilated corpse of the deathstalker he watched as the creature dissipated into nothing just as it's severed appendage did. When nothing remained of the corpse was when Aen was sure he was safe.

The news of this attack would be ideal to transfer across to Aesir, hopefully this would allow this would allow the two some insight on the foe they were up against. Aen reached into one of the pouches adorning his armor and pulled forth the disquisition stone from within. He rested a finger upon the stone's smooth surface and proceeded to envision Aesir's visage.

Aen's efforts were rewarded when the stone produced a strange ripple akin to that water would produce, across it's flat surface. When the otherworldly ripple dissipated, the sight of Aesir's face appeared upon the stone's surface allowing communication to begin between the two.

"Hello? Aesir? Can you here me Aesir?" Aesir responded to Aen's question by talking through his own identical disquisition stone, "Yes Aen, I can here you as clearly as if you were here. Now than, what is the issue at hand?" Aen glanced at the location where the Grimm once was, it was strange, the footprints and marks remained but the creature itself had completely disappeared. "Those creatures Aesir, the Grimm as they are called. I have had an encounter with one and thought you would like to know of my endeavors." Aesir's interest was peaked at the mention of the Grimm, knowing more about these creatures would certainly prove fruitful to the two's cause.

"Oh yes, please, do tell Aen." Aen than began his recounting "Well, to begin, I believe that this particular creature is not the only species of Grimm that roam this world, but this particular Grimm was very akin to that of a scorpion albeit oversized. I find it particularly strange that creatures from our time still bare resemblance to those of this time, what would you make of this Aesir?" Aesir took a moment to ponder Aen's recounting playing it over in his head skimming for crucial details.

"There very well may be more to this than we let on, I share your bewilderment about the beast's resemblance to creatures of old, this gives me pother thinking of it."

"Are there not any remains of the beast?" He questioned Aen "Strangely enough, no. As soon as the creature was slain it began a process of...'self corrosion' for lack of proper description." Aesir's brow furrowed at the mention of self corrosion, "Aen what do you mean by, 'self corrosion?'" Aen just released a sigh and attempted to conceive a better way to explain the phenomenon to the god.

"Upon it's death the creature began to dissolve until nothing remained of the creature, the same phenomenon occurred when I had severed it's claw's connection from the rest of it's body. Rapid decomposition if you will." Aesir pondered on this occurrence, searching through his mental vault for anything that he could connect this too, yet he could not think of anything it could connect with. "Most intriguing... I shall delve further into this outlandish happening for now, I will inform you if I make any substantial progress in my research on this matter." Aen nodded to Aesir and proceeded to inform him of his location.

"As of now I can see light in the distance, I conclude this is the city I am looking for, it would make logical sense for this to be the city due to it's relativity to the sea. The sand is starting to become scarce as well, I am seeing more and more grass in the distance." Aesir replied to Aen's information with advice on his approach to the city. "One thing I had failed to take into consideration earlier was how you would get into the city. Do not think to enter through the main gates, security would no doubt be thorough in their searches, and considering your armor I would image they would ask for you to remove it so that they may see your face. I thoroughly doubt they would allow a dead man access to their city either, so seek alternate entrances, my suggestion would be to travel underground, sewers are bound to lead out of the city, and anything that leads out can also lead back in."

Aen was not particularly fond of the idea of crawling through the sewers of a bustling city, and deadpanned in response to Aesir's suggestion. "You expect me to crawl through the sewers to enter..." Aesir in turn with his own deadpan expression, "Unless you wished to be exiled and mistake as a new Grimm, then I suggest you get a move on, time is of the essence."

Aen replicated an annoyed sigh before cutting the link of the disquisition stone and continuing forward towards his objective.

-S-

By the next dawn Aen had reached the wooded outskirts of the city, it was surprising to Aen to see the outskirts of the city so devoid of people. How did they provide themselves food, farming on the inside of the city's walls hardly seemed like a valid idea to Aen, there was just not enough room for farms to provide ample supplies, the city could not be that big to hold farms within... right?

Aen had concluded that this had to be the case, it made sense that the farms would find themselves inside the walls, the Grimm would surely take advantage of the open farms, leaving the populous with less food than when they began. But with the addition of the farms inside the walls the city must be quite large, Aen paled at the thought of navigating the immense city. He had enough trouble as it was navigating the cities from his time, he doubted he would find his way upon the first day, it seemed far too unlikely considering his skill level in navigating.

Aen was currently in the woods relative to the city's borders, so he still had some work left to do, particularly finding the sewer entrance. What would the sewer entrance even look like, this city's architecture greatly differed from that of his time. In consideration of the rest of the city's architecture it would most likely be walled off as well, and as equally secure. So that left him no other option than to sneak his way into the sewers.

First off he would have to find the sewer entrance if he wished to make any progress in his 'break in.' With that Aen began his search for the sewer entrance.

Aen had not been able to travel long before he was interrupted by the sound of rustling off to his right, someone was following him, or more likely, something. Considering the change of scenery from desert to woods, there was bound to be different types of Grimm in the woods. The desert was particularly absent of the Creatures of Grimm, it would make sense that they would congregate around the city's border, it would allow them a higher chance to pick off a wandering man.

He was particularly worried that he would have a run with a 'Ursa' as they had called them. From what the mind link had taught him he was to believe that these creatures were not to be taken lightly. Aen was unsure of their exact appearance other than their immense size, so whatever was following him could not be an Ursa as it would have been noticed. Large size does not do much to hide your body.

Aen sent out a warning, so that if whatever it was was human then it would know otherwise than to attack, "I know you are there, My intentions are not ill but I do not desire an audience with you. Show yourself than you may leave."

Aen's warning was not met with the words of another human but instead the beastly snarl of a Grimm. The Grimm sprang fourth from it's hiding place mouth agape and claw primed, it's intention only being to kill.

Aen acted on years of experience and rolled out of the way of the sudden attack. He drew his sword and shield upon exiting the roll and primed himself for a battle. The bone mask, bone spikes, and black fur all matched the description of what a Beowulf would look like, and if this was a Beowulf than it's pack should not be far away.

The beast sprung into action opting to use it's claw in a wide sweeping motion, all in an attempt to rend flesh. The beast's claws was met with the broad side of Aen's shield, resulting in a reverberating clang on the shield's surface. The beast was left open from the sudden block and was ended as Aen's blade ran through the beast's chest.

These beasts were weak, but Aen was not one to underestimate, where personal strength does not shine, the strength in numbers does. While these beasts would have been a threat to Aen in numbers when he had a living body, they no longer posed that threat. With no lungs to be winded, no muscles to be strained, the beasts could not best him, they relied on numbers and overwhelming force to come out on top, and with the absence of bodily strain Aen could outlast their tenacity. Even though Aen could outlast a pack's worth of beasts, he would find his concern in the addition of extras, even if he could outlast them, he could not stop a horde, nor could anyone else.

So with that thought in mind and the inevitable arrival of the rest of the pack, Aen would need to be ready. Aen opted to transpose his weapon into a curved sabre, if he were to face a pack of easily dispatched foes he would prefer to do it fast and swift, and the sabre would provide that.

Not long after Aen's transposition completed the now deceased beast's companions came charging through the brush of the woods. The beasts wasted no time in attacking Aen as the one located at the head of the small pack took the initiative, it charged forth using its speed as a buffer to it's attack. It had intended to cleave Aen's side leaving him a bleeding mess, but it's intentions were cut short as it's head was cleaved free from it's body resulting in blood being sprayed on to Aen's once clean helmet. The others of the pack were unfazed of this loss and continued with their attack.

Two others came forth from the pack with the same intentions of the last, but just like the last, met their ends at Aen's blade. The first had tried to attack Aen with yet another swipe attack that these beasts seemed to be overly fond of, but was met with air as Aen had ducked under it's attack and left a rather gruesome slice across it's midsection, doing an effective job of killing it. Aen took advantage of the still standing bloody beowulf and kicked it into it's companion causing it to stumble under the weight of it's pack member. With a quick motion Aen had stabbed his sword through the slowly dissipating corpse of the Grimm and into it's brethren's chest underneath effectively killing it in the process.

The Beowulves didn't waste another second of their attack as one had attacked Aen from behind but was unsuccessful in it's surprise attack. Aen had been able to turn fast enough to leave a fatal gash across its midsection, Aen did not wait any longer and instead took the initiative. He cut across the chest of yet another charing Beowulf and continued to leave gash after gash in the bodies of the charging Grimm.

Aen felled many of the beasts before one Beowulf was finally successful in it's attack and had managed to knock at Aen's sabre, freeing it from his grasp. The Beowulf pressed it's advantage and brought it's claw down towards Aen's chest with killing intent. The claws never met their mark as Aen had successfully intercepted the attack by grabbing the beast's arm which he proceeded to bend at an awkward angle, producing a loud snap of bones and a pained howl from the Grimm in the process, Aen waisted no time though and pulled a move that was particularly awkward to do whilst in armor of his kind.

He planted his foot onto the ground and spun, bringing his foot in a wide sweeping motion across his body where his heel connected with the Grimm's head. The hard metal of Aen's armor helped to increase the attack's effectiveness, resulting in a loud crack at the beast's head killing it in the process, his attacks truly have gotten stronger. Normally he would have used that wheel kick as his moment to retrieve his sword, but he had done an effective job of killing the beast bare handed in a matter of seconds.

Putting his thoughts aside he ran towards his discarded sword, mentally reprimanding himself at his sloppy behavior. When he had retrieved his sword the Beowulves gave him no break and continued their onslaught. Attack after attack was sent Aen's way, but none were able to connect, Aen's sword having interrupted all of the attacks. The pack's numbers were dwindling until there was only a small group remaining.

This group seemed much more cautious than the others, they did not hold the same reckless intent the other Beowulves did, and judging by their behavior they were most likely the eldest of the pack. The small group circled Aen planning on catching him off guard with a two on one attack, Aen would not allow them there moment though and instead took the initiative to attack first.

The group had not expected this change of events and Aen had successfully cut down an unsuspecting Beowulf that had expected the opposite outcome. Caught off guard, the others proceeded with a poorly planned attack similar to their younger brethren's, albeit slightly more organized. Aen was able to dodge the fast attack of the first elder and turned to cut at the second elder that planned to cut him from behind without Aen knowing. Aen's attack worked and caught the Grimm off guard resulting in it's shoulder and arm coming loose from it's body in a display of gore, and without wasting a moment Aen had continued his attack and again turned to the Beowulf at his rear, resulting in bloody display as it's face was split in two from an upward slash that started at it's chin.

When only two Beowulves remained of the pack, Aen allowed them to take the initiative. Aen stood at the ready with his sword and shield in hand, waiting for the attack from the final two creatures. The first one came forth with it's brethren in tow close behind, the first closed the distance with a quick lunge forward towards Aen's waiting form. The lunge was cut short for the Grimm when Aen jammed the bottom end of his shield into the neck of the Beowulf stopping it dead in it's tracks and causing it to cough and sputter, leaving it open for an attack that would end it's life. Aen's blade swung across the creature's midsection leaving it's upper half separate from it's lower in a gory display of practiced swordsmanship. The final Beowulf charged forward with rage against Aen due to the felling of it's pack, it's intent was not to swipe at Aen with an easily blocked attack, but to instead tackle him to the ground. Aen had not expected the change in tactics and allowed himself to be tackled to the ground by the beast resulting in his sword being knocked free and being put into a compromising position.

The beast reared it's claw back whilst on top of Aen planning to swipe across his face leaving nothing but mangled flesh. The beast was not successful in it's attack though as Aen had been able to grab the creature's claw mid swipe, stopping it from ripping through his armor. Aen planted his feet on the chest of the Beowulf and was able to kick off of him, giving him the moment he needed to get up. Once up, the Beowulf allowed Aen no time to retrieve his sabre and continued it's assault with zeal.

Aen was able to dodge the swipes of the Beowulf but had trouble in finding an opening in the elder Beowulf's onslaught. After numerous missed attacks on the Beowulf's behalf, Aen had found his opening when the Beowulf took just a second to long to wind up, it was obviously losing energy whereas Aen was not.

Aen struck with his fist into the sternum of the beast staggering, he continued his assault by sending a powerful uppercut to the beast's jaw dazing it. Aen did not stop and instead continued his advance by sending a right hook to the side of it's chest, resulting in broken bones. The attack had done more damage then at first glance as the bone fragments of the shattered ribs found their homes lodged into the vital organs of the beast like arrows.

Aen had taken advantage of the beast's pained daze and sent a wheel kick to the Beowulf's head resulting in a fair amount of blood being spit from it's mouth and onto the grass. Said kick had done a very effective job of knocking the beast to the ground with the force of anvil, leaving it in a very compromising position.

Aen lifted his armored foot above the beast's head and brought it down, doing a serviceable job of turning the beast's head to red mush. The sight of the gore was sickening no doubt, but thankfully the beasts had 'evaporated' just as it's scorpion brethren had, leaving nothing but flattened grass in the wake of the battleground.

With the fight over Aen replicated a sigh at the completion of the scuffle as he retrieved his sword from the ground. "I need to be more attentive of my grip on my sword, I'll lose it at the worst moment eventually if this keeps up." Aen reprimanded himself. He knew that even if these beasts were strong, he should be stronger, and in turn should be able to not lose his sword.

After Aen finished reprimanding himself on his sloppy performance he took this as a perfect moment to inform Aesir of his endeavors. He pulled the disquisition stone from his bag and proceeded to contact Aesir. The stone's surface rippled as though it were water and in the place of the smooth surface was Aesir's face.

"You called Aen?" Aen responded to Aesir's reply by telling him of the Beowulves. "Yes, I had another run in with those creatures of Grimm, Beowulves as I believe they are called." He said, "They are much weaker then the other Grimm I have encountered so far, they find their strength in number though, they use sheer force in their attacks over planning their moves out, it usually leads to them losing a limb." Aesir hummed in thought, he had been searching through records in the palace library for records on anything that could relate to the Grimm, "Most interesting indeed, thank you for your insight, I will continue my research in the archives." Before Aesir could cut the link Aen spoke up stopping him from cutting it, "Aesir, if you do not mind me inquiring, where do all the archive's records come from?"

This was a question that had bothered Aen for the longest time, he had known of the archive's existence since he first aligned himself with the gods, but he still did not know where the records came from or who wrote them. "I suppose I can lend you some knowledge, it would do you no good to not know. Tell me Aen, do you know who The Creator is?" A shake of the head from Aen answered Aesir's question, "During the beginning of the time, a being whom we refer to as The Creator came forth and created this world and all life upon it, he was not a god though so he was not conceived of man, but instead conceived of himself, unfortunately his exact origins are unknown, so there is no telling how exactly he was created. When he created the world he left records of everything that he created, these records are very expansive and are many, there is no possible way I could read all of them during my existence, there are far too many. I use his records as a means of research so that I may learn of things I do not understand"

Aen dwelled on the thought of thousands upon thousands of records of everything to ever be created, it made his head hurt just thinking of it. "I will not go into more depth than needed, after all, you have a city you need to get into don't you?" Aen replicated a sigh from beneath his helmet, "I would be more ecstatic at the though of entering the city had I not have sift through the sewers" Aesir just held a smug grin before cutting the link.

-S-

After several hours of searching Aen had found what he believed to be a compound housing the sewage maintenance. The compound was guarded by men with strange looking weapons, if Aen had to guess he would call them a strange version of a crossbow, they looked like crossbows the way they held them, but it was missing the strings needed to fire an arrow, it was a strange weapon indeed. Currently Aen was sulking in the bushes of the tree line surrounding the compound's entrance, he needed to stay out sight of the guards, but that was easier said than done when you are wearing a suit of armor.

Aen analyzed the compound looking for any flaws in the defenses that he could take advantage of, there was at least three men with the strange crossbow weapons on the concrete walls of the compound, but there was no telling how many more were inside the walls. From the looks of it the guards were not very alert, these guards likely did not get much action. Aen noticed the large metal gate at the front of the compound that most likely lead inside the sewage compound, it was not the gate that caught his eye though, but instead the metal door next to the gate. The door itself did not look very secure and considering Aen's new strength, could probably be kicked down with ease. The only problem that presented itself though was getting to the door without being spotted, he could create a distraction but there was no telling how long the guards would hold their focus, the distraction would have to be something big.

An idea finally dawned on Aen when he glanced along the tree line of the compound. Aen pulled his sword from his sheath and transposed the weapon into a burly looking battle axe, he then proceeded to move to a different part of the tree line, away from the front entrance. He looked for the biggest tree he could find and began hacking away.

These men were most likely here to guard against the Grimm and not other people, if he could collapse a large tree he could trick the men into thinking that a large Grimm had knocked the tree down and draw their attention away from the entrance allowing him to sneak by unnoticed.

With one final swing the tree fell to the ground with a loud crash successfully making quite a ruckus. Aen was able to see the guards on the wall snap to attention and point their crossbows in the direction of the fallen tree, he could even faintly hear them yelling to each other. "Hey we got a big one over here, bring as manny men as possible to the right flank we might have a King Taijitu on our hands!" Aen took advantage of the men's panicked state and bolted from the tree line to the entrance, most if not all of the men were now on the right wall or heading to the right wall all whilst in a panicked state, it was unlikely they would take notice of his presence.

Aen was able to reach the metal gate unnoticed and pressed himself up against it so that the men could not see him, when he deemed it safe that none could see or hear him he kicked the door in. The hinges came lose and a large dent was present on the center of the door where Aen had kicked it in, the process was not as quiet as he had hoped though as the door had produced a loud thud when it landed, hopefully no one heard the loud clang.

Once Aen had entered through the door he was greeted with the insides of the concrete walls, it was fairly dark inside from the lack of lighting, but Aen was able to make out another door that presumably lead into the rest of the compound. Aen approached the door slowly and quietly making sure not to give up his presence. He creaked the door open a small amount so he could see into the rest of the compound, it was a relatively small compound so finding the sewer entrance should not prove itself to be a challenge. Aen was able to make out a large concrete ramp that lead down into large dark tunnels, those had to be the sewers, what else could they be.

The sewer design looked very akin to those of his time albeit with better materials, if he had to reason a guess they were most likely laid out the same way as his cities' were, that would make the navigation of his the sewers much easier. Aen would have been able to make it to the sewer slope in a short amount of time, but his worries were not in vain as more men were on the inside of the compound than he had anticipated. By the looks of these men they were not guards like the ones on the wall, this was relevant due to their lack of crossbow weapons, sneaking by these men would prove to be easier.

If Aen stuck close to the wall and crossed around the right side he should be able to slip by unnoticed, most of the men's attention was drawn to the right. The piping and multiple tubes containing who knows what found themselves on the right side as well which would make sneaking by much easier.

With one final look over of the compound Aen slowly opened the door careful not to produce any noise whilst doing so. He did not open the door fully but instead opened it partially and slipped out of it and off to the side breaking into a slowly paced crouched walk. Aen was successful in his attempts to reach the piping to use as cover and once there hid behind the mass of metal tubing.

He had a straight shot to the slope now, the only problem was that one particular worker was facing the direction of the slope, this one man was keeping Aen from making it into the sewers, he needed to make him look away before the guards realized there was nothing wrong. Aen looked around for anything he could use to create a distraction and thought up an idea when his eyes fell upon a small stone. This was one of the oldest tricks in the books, thieves and spies alike were fond of this simple trick, even if it was as simple as a diversion gets, it worked better than any other options he had right now.

Aen picked up the rugged stone and held it in the palm of his withered hand, he gave it a toss up and down once to check the stone's weight before throwing the stone in the opposite direction the worker was facing. The stone was hit the ground with a hushed thump, it was enough to draw the worker's attention though as he had heard the sound and turned around to investigate.

Once the man had turned his back to the sewer entrance Aen took the brief moment he had to sneak past the distracted guard. He had made it to the lip of the slope when he noticed the guard had lost interest in the noise and turned back to work on what he was doing previously, Aen quickly scrambled over the lip's edge hoping to escape into the shade before the man could spot him, but he was too slow.

The worker had just barely caught sight of the top of Aen's helmet, but it was enough to draw his attention to the anomaly, "Hello? Hey, is someone there!" The man started to approach Aen's position and Aen's mind scrambled for ideas on how to get himself out this mess, he didn't see very many options.

Putting all caution to the wind, Aen jumped up and ran down into the sewer's shade hoping to escape into the complex system of underground tunnels unnoticed, his attempts were met with failure unfortunately as the man had spotted Aen run off into the sewer's shade. "Hey you! Stop right there, this is a restricted area you are not allowed here! Stop right now!"

Ignoring the man's warnings Aen ran deeper and faster into the sewer's darkness hoping that he could lose the man's sight in the dark tunnels, he didn't get far before he heard the man call to the guards on the walls though. Aen ran as fast as he could deeper into the tunnels not keeping track of where he was going in the slightest, his carelessness would probably come back to bite him later. Thankfully the man had not gotten a good glimpse of Aen, hopefully he had not seen enough of him to be able to give an accurate description if questioned.

-S-

Aen had lost track of the man, but had also lost track of his way. Currently he was deep within the sewer's bowels, or at least he thought he was. He was looking for a way out of the damp sewers, whether it be a ladder or a staircase he hoped he would find an exit soon.

Aen's skills in navigating did naught to ease his troubles, it all looked the same to him. He had been mindlessly wandering in the sewer's depths for the past hour or so looking for any exit, he did not even bother to trace his steps. If he could not find his way out the outcome could be severe, rotting in a sewer would be no fun. Rotting in the sewers was a very unfavorable idea, even if he could not die his bones could wither away until nothing remained but ash, that was an even more unfavorable idea than rotting with flesh, or maybe not...

It was besides the point though, all that Aen wanted right about now was an exit, the constant echoing of his feet splashing in the water cast an eerie noise that did little to raise Aen's opinion about the sewers. He would be lying if he said that the constant sloshing of the water added with the eerie echo and darkness was not unsettling. Aen was about to give up search for an exit and contact Aesir for advice, but a he heard a strange noise in the distance down the bending tunnel.

Aen stopped all of his movement and listened in on the noise trying to pinpoint the location, or at least uncover what the strange sound was. He could barely make out what he would describe as... voices? Who in the right mind would be wandering through the sewers, it didn't seem right, perhaps it was a maintenance crew. If he followed the maintenance crew quietly perhaps they would lead him to an exit, he had had enough of this godsforsaken sewer and this could very well be his way out.

Aen moved as slowly and as quietly as his body could allow him to the bend in the tunnel and peaked around the corner, being careful not to expose himself. What he saw was not the workers he was hoping for, but instead he saw light down at the far end of the tunnel, among the sounds of the voices he could hear the steady hum of a generator, which suggested that the lights were connected to the generator. The place itself did not look very well put together, it suggested that it was more of a hideout than it was a work checkpoint, Aen had guessed that this was no work checkpoint.

If this was a hideout, than who was down here? From the sounds of it there were far more voices than Aen had anticipated, this could very likely be a band of street thugs that turned to the sewers for hiding. That was technic that was commonly used in Aen's time, gangs of thugs and marauders would hide in the sewers and create large underground hideouts, it was likely that these men were doing the same.

From what Aen could see (which was not much) he was able to make out just the faintest outline of what looked like a ladder, it was unsure though. What Aen was seeing could be something entirely unrelated, but he was not fond of staying in these tunnels much longer than needed, so he acted on a whim.

Aen approached slowly and cautiously, doing his best to attempt to leave the water undisturbed and quiet all the while sticking to the shadows. Aen hoped that even if he was spotted that these men would be kind enough to let him pass, it was unlikely scenario though and he would most likely end up fighting his way out.

Aen had reached a distance where he could clearly make out the hideout and it's inhabitants. Four men stood on guard keeping a close eye on their surroundings all whilst talking around a roaring fire, they wore matching black uniforms that had bold red letters emblazoned on the back spelling out CFS, whatever that meant was lost to Aen, but what did stand out was how well equipped these men were.

One man held one of those crossbow weapons clutched tightly in his hands resting on his lap, finger ready to pull the trigger at a moments notice, the man looked on edge, whatever was causing his uneasy state Aen did not know unfortunately. The other three held weapons that held many similarities to club, the only difference being the fact that the clubs these men were holding were made of metal, an effective weapon that lacked grace by the looks of it.

Aen's earlier suspicions were confirmed as the object that he thought was a ladder was indeed, a ladder, finally he had his exit, now he just had to deal with these men. It would do him good to take out the man with the crossbow weapon before the others, he knew how the other mens' weapons would operate, but not the fidgety one, it would be wise to dispose of him first.

The only thing that held Aen back from pouncing forward was his inner conflicts, on one hand these men could very well be friendly and harming them would put him at qualms with them, but on the other hand these could be just your everyday street thugs that would attack on sight. Aesir had told him to make friends and not enemies, but these mens' intentions were unknown and he no way of telling of their intentions other than their matching clothes. The matching clothes suggested that these men were of a clan or gang, but whether that clan or gang be good or bad he could not know.

Aen had ended his inner conflicts and came to a compromise, he would walk out and present himself, if they attacked on sight he would attack in time, but if they did not, he would try his hand at negotiation. Aen put his plan into motion and stepped free from the shadows and into the light.

The man on edge had been first to notice Aen's appearance and sprang to his feet pointing his weapon at him and shouting with a timid voice, "Hey! Stop right there, don't come no further, you hear?! This is the Crimson Forsaken Syndicate's turf!" So that was what the large CFS stood for Aen mentally noted. The other three man sprang up just as their companion did and took a defensive stance. The more burly man of the group put a hand on the shoulder of the man currently pointing his weapon at Aen and said, "Calm down rookie, we got this. We'll show you how it's done." The man stepped into the ankle height water that Aen was currently standing in and approached Aen with his other two companions in tow. The man slapped his metal club into his hand and talked to Aen with a slow and authoritative tone, "Ok buddy, what are you doing here? If you don't know this is CFS territory, unless you's lookin' to join I suggest you get on out of here." The man behind the currently speaking man spoke up, "I don't know Tommy, this guy looks like one of them huntsmen that they got up top, I bet he's been paid to wipe us out."

The man now known as Tommy spoke up to Aen again with a more serious expression on his face now, "Oh I see, so you's one of them hunter boys eh, well your kind ain't welcome here, so state you business. You a hunter boy or not?" Aen held his hand above his head in a gesture of good will and stated his intentions to the man, "I am no 'huntsmen' as you refer to them, I just happened to stumble upon your little camp here after I ... fell into the sewers from above. I seek to use your ladder as a means to exit these tunnels, if I may?" Aen gestured to the ladder.

The man obviously did not believe Aen's tale as he had stopped him and questioned his story, "So you fell did you now? I don't know where your from but people don't just fall into sewers around here, so I suggest you tell me what your real intentions are hunter boy." The man jammed a finger into Aen's breastplate at the use of the slang hunter boy just to further his point.

Aen was starting to lose his patience with these men and decided to get a little more aggressive in his negotiation. "Look, all I seek is for an exit, I assure you I am no, hunter boy-" He jabbed his own finger into the man's chest with the use of the term hunter boy to mock him. "-I have places to be, and I would prefer you stay out of my way. Now let me through" The last words were spoken slowly and articulated clearly so that his point was clear to the men, he did not want to have to fight these men, but he had no qualms in doing so if he had to.

The man gave Aen a stern look, "I don't think so," The man grinned "Hunter boy" The other two men laughed at this comment, with the exception of the rookie with the crossbow weapon standing in the back. Aen sighed in annoyance, he had hoped he could pass by without any complications but it appears this was not the case, "Then so be it, I warned you, all I wanted was to pass through peacefully." Aen pulled his sword from his sheath and held it in front of him transposing it into a bo-staff , the golden light showered the dark tunnel giving of more light then there already was. The man just smiled at this sudden happening, "So you are a hunter boy, only them guys can pull of those tricks"

Aen had enough of this man's teasing and took the initiative in the fight. He swung his staff into the side of the man's torso causing him to keel over opening him up for a strike to the back of the head, he was careful in his swing's strength doing his best to incapacitate instead of kill. The man slammed to the floor hard, he was knocked out before he hit the ground, "Maybe next time you'll learn to pick your fights" Aen said, more to himself than the man.

The other two noticed this and both gave each other hesitant looks before rushing in attempting to overpower him with number advantages. The first man swung at Aen with his metal club attempting to hit his head and cause blunt trauma, the attack never met as Aen had put his staff between him and the man successfully blocking the predictable attack. Aen took advantage of the man's vulnerable position and orchestrated a counter attack, he kicked the man in the gut causing him to keel over into a compromising position, Aen would have continued his attack had he not seen the second man coming from behind. He turned from the man he was currently attacking and used his staff to sweep the other man's feet out from under him, the man fell to the ground hard leaving him unable to fight for a moment, the moment was all Aen needed.

He turned back towards the man he had attacked previously and with a powerful strike hit him in the side if the head causing blood to splatter from his mouth and into the sewer water. The attack had knocked the man out but Aen hoped that the attack had not done more than that, he did not want to crack the man's skull, but if that is what happened then so be it.

When Aen turned to face the other man he was greeted with his worried expression, "Shit! Danny what the hell are you doing, shoot him already!" The worried man with the crossbow looked even more worried than he had previously and shook in his place, when he lifted his weapon at Aen it was a surprise he was able to even keep it steady with how much he shook. Aen did not allow the worried man to fire though, he threw the bo-staff like a javelin right at the worried man hitting him in the gut causing him to drop his weapon.

With that man out of the picture for a short while Aen turned to the man who had yelled before hand, who promptly swung his club at Aen with all of his might as soon as Aen had faced him. Aen was unable to see this attack in time and was only left with the option to block, the block proved to do little as Aen had misjudged the swing's strength and allowed it to hit him in the side of the helmet.

When the metal club collided with Aen's head he felt the armor's visor come lose from his helmet exposing his skeletal face to any who looked. The attack must have hit just right because if it had hit anywhere else Aen doubted an damage would have been done, it seems that even his armor has its chinks, he would have to let Aesir know of this later.

Aen had kept his face facing towards the ground so as to not allow the man to see his face, both of the men stood still thinking that they had bested Aen. The man that had just hit Aen decided to speak up now, "Looks like that armor is all for show huh Hunter boy?!" The man had a wide grin on his face that Aen was about wipe free, even if what Aen was about to do was pretty sadistic he did it anyway.

"You see, now that is where you are wrong-" Aen picked his head up and faced the man who had hit him, "-I think you just found just the right spot" Aen's face was now fully visible to the man in front of him revealing every detail of his skeletal figure, every minute detail. Aen watched the man visibly pale at the sight of his face, he watched the color drain from his face, "Horrible, Repulsive, Disgusting, Monster, what would you like to call me? You could go on and on and on about all the things you could label me with, but what would you call me?"

The man stood there motionless and sputtered out his next words in fear, "What are you?!" He lashed out at Aen with a sloppy attack, Aen would not allow him to strike him again. Aen stopped the attack by grabbing the man's wrist mid swing. Aen held the man's wrist in a vice-like grip and looked him in the eyes with his own glowing ones, not knowing what else to do the man dropped his club and used his other hand to try and free himself from Aen's grip but to no avail. "Let go of me you freak!" The man screamed at Aen in a desperate attempt to get him to release him, but Aen would not allow him to get off that easily.

"So that's the word you chose, Freak..." Aen tightened his grip even harder around the man's wrist eliciting a pained yell from the man, "You see I prefer another title. I am no freak, no I am a champion" With that last remark Aen had decided he was finished with his little performance and gripped hard on the man's wrist creating a sickening crack, he then released the man where he dropped to the ground clutching his broken wrist while yelling in pain.

Not wanting this man to cause anymore trouble Aen decided to knock him out with a swift punch to the head. With one out of the way and the only one left, being the new kid, Aen decided to spare the new kid the performance, the kid was lucky enough to not have seen his face as Aen's back was to him the whole time. Aen picked up the visor to his helmet and fit it back into place where stayed like nothing had happened, he then turned and faced the kid, he was a shambling mess. He was on the ground shivering like a lost dog.

Aen felt bad for the kid, he could tell that the new recruit did not want to be where he was, he did not even make an attempt to retrieve his weapon. Aen released a sigh as he walked up to the kid and instead of knocking him out like his companions he held a helping hand out to him. The kid flinched at the friendly gesture probably mistaking it for an attack, "Relax kid, I can tell you don't want to be here, I do not have any intentions of harming you and I can tell you hold the same friendly intentions." The kid studied the hand with apprehension before he deemed it safe and took hold of the armored hand allowing himself to be pulled up.

"Now then why don't you tell me your name kid, and why you are here" Aen did his best to sound friendly, but the change of tone did little to calm the already worried kid. "D-Danny... My name's Danny sir." Aen continued on in his questioning with added confidence, knowing well that getting someone to say their name is a crucial step in building trust. "So Danny why not enlighten me as to why you are aliened with these thugs, I can tell you do not enjoy their company."

Danny took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself before telling Aen his story, "W-Well you see, I -uh... I grew up here as kid with no parents and lived on the streets for a log time. I-It was hard living in those conditions and, uh, I didn't want to live like that no more so I decided to j-join the CFS." Aen could not relate with this young man but could at least share him spare him some sympathy, "I see... I can imagine that being a very tough life. While I can not relate with your story I can still compliment you on your bravery." The kid looked taken back by the sudden compliment and protested with Aen's claim.

"W-with all do respect sir, I don't think I deserve those compliments... I had to stoop low sir it was no fun at all. I had to kill sir, I had kill when I didn't want to, it was horrible sir." The young man looked as though he was bout to start crying, Aen did not want to see those tears, this kid had potential but he did not see it, "Danny, you say you killed, yes?" He nodded albeit hesitantly, "Did you enjoy those killings, do the images of those you have killed keep you up at night" He nodded in disagreement and then in agreement, "Then you are still pure of heart Danny, you are not a bad man and do not let anyone tell you otherwise."

Once again Danny protested to Aen's claims, "But sir! I killed people, how can I still be pure if I killed!" The kid was angry, not angry at Aen, but at himself, he was angry he killed those people and he wished he hadn't. "Danny what you are doing right now shows that you are a good person, you are mad at yourself for killing, you are mad at that you had to kill, you did not want to kill, Danny all of this shows you are a good man. You did not want to kill so you should not be who to blame."

Danny put his head in his hands and stood quietly, he did not want to think of this now, he hated himself for killing, and if what Aen said is true than he should not be to blame, no, he was pure. Danny was snapped from his thoughts by the sound of Aen's boots slamming against the ladder rungs, "Sir wait! Where are you going?" Feeling no need to lie to the kid Aen told him the truth, "I am setting off to Vale, I have business I need to attend to there, why do you ask?"

With determination Aen had not seen from the boy before he shouted to Aen "Take me with you!" Aen smiled under his helmet at the kid's newfound determination, but he could not accept his offer as saddening as it was. "I am sorry Danny, as much as it would please me to accept, I cannot. The path I travel is a dangerous, and also one that I would not want you to travel."

Danny new better than to let this opportunity pass by, he needed to leave this city, nothing good would become of him if he stayed here. "No you can't leave me! If I stay I will be dead within the next month please take me with you! I even know a man you can get us to Vale, you don't even have to take me with you from that point, I can just stay in Vale, I'll be better off there than here"

Aen dwelled on the decision, leaving him here would most certainly lead to his death and Aen wished for that to not be the kid's outcome, If he brought him then he ran the risk of Seraphim learning of him and using him against him. The kid had made a valid point though, how could he get to Vale with no money or ride, Danny knew how though, and he could leave him in Vale where he would be much better off. Aen weighed his options before coming to a decision.

"Ok Danny, I will take you. You must show me how to get to Vale, but from there we must part ways." Danny had practically jumped in excitement at the thought of leaving the city, but he did not want to overdo it and have Aen change his mind. "Thank you so much sir! You have no idea how much this means to me, thank you so much!" Aen only smiled at the boy's reaction and continued up the ladder calling after him, "Yes I get the point, now come before I change my mind"

Danny ran after Aen and up the ladder following close behind. The two climbed the ladder higher and higher until they finally reached the top where a large metal cover blocked their exit. Aen reached up and lifted it aside allowing the light from above to pour into the dark sewers, while Aen had no trouble adjusting to the light levels Danny had a far more rough time, he almost let go of the ladder after being temporarily blinded by the suns's light.

When Aen climbed out of the sewers and into the city he was not greeted with the most pleasant sight, he had imagined coming up into a large bustling city full of people, but it appears that he had climbed out of the sewers and into a back alley. Aen did not have pleasant memories of back allies in the slightest, the one and only time he had traveled through one on his first trek into his local city he was robbed.

Aen doubted that Danny had any good memories in back allies either and opted to exit the alley as fast as he could.

When he exited the alley he was greeted with the sights he had originally anticipated. He watched the machines called cars fly past on the roads as if they were horses, it was truly a marvel to watch but he had more important matters at hand, he needed to find a way to Vale.

"Ok Danny now that we're on the surface, please guide me to the man that will take us to Vale." Danny nodded in approval and lead him down the sidewalk towards their destination.

A Champion of the gods and a boy from the sewers, it was truly an unlikely companionship...

 **-S-**

 **A/N; Ok, that took me way too long to write, I never thought that I would take this long to write. Anyways, it's good to be back and boy does it feel good to have this chapter out finally, I have been putting this off for the longest time and it also went back to the drawing board a couple times because I didn't like it. I apologize for any mistakes I may have made in the writing, especially towards the end, I feel as though I rushed it towards the end because I just wanted to get the chapter out, so again, I apologize for any mistakes I may have made towards the end of the chapter.**

 **Now to clear a few things up that may have been unclear to begin with. When I saw crossbow weapon I mean guns, I had trouble finding something similar to a gun from Aen's time so I used that as the description. When I say metal clubs I mean metal batons. Now for the things I thought were kind of bad in this chapter, I felt that I wasn't able get Danny's character right, it was kind of hard for me to get him just how I wanted him, bit if you thought he was good or bad leave a review. Now the next thing I though I was a little bad with was the fight scenes, I hope the were clear enough so that you could understand what was going on in the fight and what kind of moves Aen was pulling off. I also felt that there may have been to many fight scenes in this chapter, three is a lot to put in a chapter. Now for the last thing I thought I did bad was capturing the fear the man felt when Aen removed his mask, in my mind I pictured it a lot better but in reality it came out kind of meh.. Also sice I did not proofread this chapter I apologize for spelling mistakes.**

 **Anyways thanks to everyone that reads this fic, especially you Banker, it helps so much knowing that someone likes your content. So leave any criticisms in the review section and remember to stay toasty.**

 **\- From Loasty of the Toasty**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Old Friends

Aen was amazed at the sheer size of the city he was in, it was enormous in size with people moving all about, it certainly a sight to behold. Aen was still trying to take it all in, just thinking of how to navigate the city gave him conniptions, he had originally anticipated the city to be much, much smaller than it's actual size, he assumed the size was due to the ever growing population of the city though. The more Aen dwelled on it though the more it bugged him, the people of this time had to live a life of confinement inside the concrete walls that were meant to protect from the Grimm, if you asked him that was no way to live.

He supposed that the city had accounted for the claustrophobia that came with the confinement though and likely had set up recreation areas, and parks to mimic the outside world, it was sad, but the people were content nonetheless. Aen wondered just how big this city actually was, it certainly needed to be big and Aen knew fairly well at this point that it was big indeed, but just big was it? It was as if the city was the size of a country itself, it made sense though that they would be that big due to the rest of the land being uninhabitable.

The thoughts of the lives these people had to live angered Aen, it made him realize just how present of a threat the Grimm really were, it made him want to join the fight along side the huntsmen and eradicate the Grimm, as much as he wanted to do that though he knew he could not, he had far too important matters at hand. Aen's line of thought was still not swayed from the thoughts of this city though and the unknown factors of this city began to worry Aen, so he decided to make conversation with Danny to learn more of this city.

"So, Danny, if it does not irk you, may I ask you of this city's contents and points of interest" Danny looked uneasy but answered nonetheless, he knew better than to ignore the question directed towards him, "Oh, yeah, um, well we'll be passing by the Huntsman Academy soon, I think it's called Shade. There's lots of stuff in this city to look at, but I'm sure you're more interested in the Huntsmen Academy than anything else, you are a huntsman after all."

Interesting, so Danny still thought of Aen as a huntsman, it was not that far fetched though considering the performance he had put on during their first meeting, after seeing something like that it would be hard to believe that he was not a huntsman. Aen could not let Danny think of him as a hunter though, it would render Aen's job of discreetness much harder if Danny thought of him as a hunter, coming up with a fake background on the spot is not particularly easy when you have limited information on the topic, and that was something Aen wanted to avoid. A particular encumbrance such as a lack of information could do an effective job of greatly convoluting Aen's work, and that was something that need not abide for Aen.

"I apologize Danny, but I am no hunter, I am but a skilled fighter" Judging by the twisted look of disbelief on Danny's face it was safe to say that the boy did not believe a single word of what Aen had said, "Oh, and you expect me to believe that do you, I know you are a huntsman Sir. If you can fight like you did back there than you are definitely a huntsman." Aen did not want to have him think as he did now and attempted to sway his views yet again, "Danny, I assure you what I speak is no lie, I am but a skilled fighter who was taught by a skilled master" Making up a fake background would hopefully be an effective way of persuading Danny to think otherwise.

If Aen could create a believable story than he could do an effective job of changing Danny's views on his profession. The difficult part would come when Aen would have to describe why he was in the sewers breaking into a city, he could make up as many believable legacies as he wanted but none of them would explain just why he was trying to break into the city, so Aen had to come up with something believable, and fast. Danny was quick to question though giving Aen no time to think overly hard about what he wanted to say.

"Your master, what's his name? If he taught you so well surely he is well known." Danny held a defiant smirk on his face as he waited for Aen's reply, he seemed to be treating the situation as if it was all one big game more than it was a serious situation, Aen reasoned a guess that the boy did not even care whether or not he was a huntsman at this point, the boy was just teasing at this point. Aen knew he had to reply quick though, he knew that if he did not it would seem as though he took the time to come up with a name so he spoke the first name that came to mind, "Aesir... his name is Aesir, he is a very prominent fighter I must say"

Aen smiled internally at his description of his 'master,' while Aesir was surely smart and a force to be reckoned with, Aen found the thought of Aesir as a prominent fighter amusing, sure Aesir shined in magic, but he severely lacked anything offensive, hence the reason he had Aen do the dirty work in his stead.

"Never heard of him before, he must be a pretty good teacher though considering how good you are at fighting" Surprisingly enough Danny sounded as if he believed Aen tale, Aen's rapid and genuine sounding response must have been more effective than Aen thought as it seemed that Danny believed his story, at least somewhat. If Aen wanted to keep the ruse up he would have to continue with an explanation of his 'master.'

"Yes, he was surely skilled, but he was a strange man indeed. I met him one day when I was out and about and he saw the potential in me and decided to take me in, the strangest part about him though is that he lives outside the city's confinement, hence the reason he may be unheard of." Aen was thorough in his explanation, but Danny had still noticed a part of the story that Aen had intentionally skipped over, "That's pretty cool and all, but why were you in the sewers, I know he lives outside the city, but can't he just come back in through the main entrance?"

If this question was asked any earlier Aen would have been unprepared, but thankfully Aen had taken the time to think of a believable explanation as to why he was in the sewers in the time it took him to explain his story. "You see, my tutelage was not exactly, permitted so to say. As you can imagine the city does not take lightly to people coming in and out of the city, and Aesir was an exception. So instead of going through the trouble of getting me permission to exit and enter the city as I please we opted to sneak me in and out, I happened to come across you and your, 'friends' by mistake."

Aen hoped the explanation would prove sufficient for Danny, he put a lot of thought into the quick story in the hopes that Danny would believe him and cease his questioning, making his job of discreetness all the easier. "Oh, ok than, that's a pretty strange way to do it, but it looks like it was worth it for you, I shouldn't judge anyway, I've done my fair share of wrong doings as well." It seemed that Danny had believed the spotty story allowing Aen his relief, which he expressed with a subtly replica of a sigh.

Now that Aen had cleared the confusion on his origins he hoped he could redirect the conversation he had mistakenly begun to a more relevant topic. "So Danny, now that we know of each other, why don't you tell me of this man that will be bringing us to Vale?" Aen had been following Danny down the streets for a fairly large distance and was just beginning to be able to make out what looked like docks. If Aen had to reason a guess to their method of transportation he would have to guess, boat. If they were heading to the docks it would make sense that they would be taking a boat as their method of transportation. Aen was proven wrong though when Danny took an abrupt turn down a back alley and away from the docks.

Although it was unnoticeable, Aen was disappointed that they were not going to the docks. When Aen was younger he would always find himself wishing to be a sailor when he got older, he always had found an interest in sailing, the thought of being out on the open ocean seemed fun and exhilarating to Aen. It was strange though, as much as Aen wished to be a sailor, he still had an uncontrollable fear of the ocean depths. He knew full well that if he wanted to be a sailor then he would have to overcome that fear, but no matter how hard he tried he could never get over it.

What it was about the depths that scared him so was unknown to Aen though, whether it was the thought of the unknown or his inability to see the ocean floor, it's very unsettling not being able to see what's below you. Nonetheless his father had encouraged him countless times to work on the farm instead of sailing, claiming that, "It's too dangerous!" or "We need more farm workers!" Aen had always ignored his fathers pleas and set himself on becoming a sailor, it never did happen though as he had instead been contracted into the gods' service.

At first Aen was ecstatic when he learned he was chosen to be their champion, but of course as time passed his enthusiasm towards the gods slowly but surely dwindled. Aen knew the gods did little wrong, but constantly being bossed around by them did become rather annoying over time. Not only that, but you can imagine how disappointed Aen was when he learned he could not meet the gods in person, and instead only communicate through a two way mind link that only Eir could hold up, hence the reason Aen had to use the disquisition stone to communicate with Aesir.

Speaking of the disquisition stone, it would probably do Aen well to inform Aesir of his whereabouts and his current situation, he would only have to find the time to contact him whilst Danny was not in his presence.

It was then that Aen's thoughts drifted back to Danny. Where was he taking him anyway, at first glance it appeared as though they were heading towards the city's docks for a boat ride, but by the looks of the drab alleyway they were currently passing through, though it did not seem as that was the case anymore.

Aen was snapped fourth from his pondering by the sound Danny answering the question Aen had asked moments before. Aen had actually completely forgot he asked the question due to him finding himself absorbed in thought, it was a habit Aen had to kick.

"Well, um... when I first joined the CFS back when I was younger I met him and he was actually pretty nice to me unlike all the other guys-" As Danny quenched Aen's curiosity about this man, Aen couldn't help but notice the reluctance Danny held in his voice as he told of this man, perhaps Danny was dreading the question that was asked. "- Anyways, he used to run supplies back and fourth for the CFS with his boat so he wasn't around all that much, the CFS higher-ups probably didn't even know he existed."

Aen listened to Danny's record of his past, but his diligence was drawn towards one fact of Danny's recounting, so he opted to question, "Hold now, Danny your telling me that the man who will be taking us is part of the CFS? Danny you do realize that neither of us are likely on good terms with the CFS, what's to say that the man will not turn us in" Danny stood timidly and it seemed as though Aen's earlier speculation was correct and Danny was reluctant in sharing this information for fear of Aen's reaction.

Danny's will held true though and he continued his recounting, "Sir please don't jump to conclusions! I was going to tell you that he's a defector just like me, he wouldn't turn us in, he even encouraged me to defect but, I just couldn't find the strength to do it." Aen saw reason in Danny's argument and internally reprimanded himself for jumping to conclusions, but still risks still presented themselves, risks that Aen was not entirely willing to take.

"Danny I see your reason, but I must digress. From what little information I have on the CFS I am still able to conclude that they are not of the sorts to leave loose ends, is that correct?" Danny nodded albeit timidly, which gave Aen the confidence he needed to continue. "Then if two people who are both on bad terms with the CFS meet with another person who is on an opposing viewpoint such as the other two, it presents the CFS with a chance to take out three targets in one go. It would save them the hassle of hunting us down individually, so what is to say they would not take said opportunity."

Aen thought his argument to be sufficient enough, but Danny seemed to think otherwise and retorted against Aen's claims. "I see what you're trying to say Sir, but how could they possibly track us down if they don't know where we are? If we stay here and wait to find another way out of this city then they would be able to find us if you give them enough time, but if we leave now they wouldn't even know, it would send them on a wild goose chase!"

It appeared as though Danny's argument was enough to sway Aen's viewpoint, as he took a second to consider the options and risks before finally coming to terms with Danny's argument, "I guess that is a valid point, I see no other choice then to meet this man considering our other nonexistent options." Danny held a defiant grin on his face at the knowledge of him successfully beating Aen in an argument that he had originally felt helpless in.

Since Aen had followed in Danny's viewpoints he thought it a viable option to inquire more information about the man that was hopefully going to sail them out of the city's bounds and into the boundaries of Vale. "So then Danny, if does not bother you, may I ask what this man's name is? It would ease my conscious slightly if I were to know the name of this man."

Unlike before, Danny was quick to answer Aen's inquiry with no trace of reluctance that was so prominent in his being before, "Rex, his name's Rex. He might come off as mean when you first meet him, but once you get to know him he's very friendly" Even if the given information was minuscule it did much to help Aen plan out how exactly he wanted to approach this man, first impressions always lasted.

While Aen was still pondering on his approach, the alleyway that Danny and Aen had been walking down for the longest time found it's end at tall chain linked fence with a solitary man on the other side.

Danny took this as the most opportune time to inform Aen of their whereabouts and what actions would be deemed appropriate, "Ok Sir, that guy at that fence over there-" Danny pointed to the chain linked fence that sat at the end of the alley, "-Is the entrance to the smugglers docks. There are a lot of smugglers in Vacuo and they started to form their own little smuggling groups that operate right under the authorities's noses, some of the bigger ones work for the CFS and are known by the authorities, but the CFS and all of its smuggling chains are just too big for the police to take out, so they leave it be."

Aen did not find solace in the fact that they were currently entering a smugglers den, but nonetheless he listened to what Danny had to say, he did not want his presentiment to rub off on Danny, so he allowed him to continue his explanation unhindered.

"This one on the other hand is pretty small, I doubt the CFS even knows about these guys. So when we get in there these guys are going to be really on edge, so don't do anything that would draw any attention to us, your armor alone makes you stand out, so don't do anything that would draw us anymore attention than needed"

Aen nodded his agreements and allowed himself to follow Danny down the rest of the alleyway and to the chain fence where the newly identified smuggler stood. When they were close enough to be within talking range, Aen was able to observe the attire of the man on the other side of the fence. The man wore much to conceal his face and identity, sporting a hood and bandana which covered most of his face, only leaving his off colored yellow eyes visible to Aen.

Judging by the strange animal like color and shape of the man's eyes, Aen thought it safe to assume that this man was a faunas. It was strange seeing such an alien being that Aen had never seen before right before him, most of his time during his travels he grew accustomed to slaying strange creatures that stood in his path, as more often than not they were sent from hell to kill him, and seeing such a strange creature in front of him that was not out to get him was alien to Aen. Even if Aen could not see what animal this faunas had an affinity with, just the knowledge that this man was very likely unhuman was a strange and unsettling thought to Aen.

Aen quickly shook those prejudice thoughts free from his head, he would not want to grow a bias towards faunas kind unless he wished to join the troves of racists that littered this new age.

Danny whispered silently with the faunas in front of him inciting the occasional glance towards Aen from the faunas. Whatever it was that Danny was telling the man was unknown to Aen, most likely it was Danny attempting to allow the faunas to let them in. Danny looked like he was making little leeway with the faunas so Aen opted to help Danny in his endeavors, and stepped forward to help negotiate.

When Aen stepped closer he was able to hear what Danny was saying to the man, "Please Sir, I know my friend looks a little shady but I assure you he is not any type of authority like you think, he just like the rest of us, looking for a safe place to stay and a way to get some goods out of the city" Just as Aen was about to intervene the faunas spoke, responding to Danny's pleas with a warm look, "Ok buddy, look you and your friend can go in" A warm smile found its place on Danny's face and he turned to Aen with wide grin.

The moment was short lived though as the faunas called both of their attention back to him, "Don't get all too happy now, at the first sign of trouble you guys are out of here, got it?" Danny nodded eagerly and waited for the faunas to open the open the chain link door on the fence the Aen had overlooked earlier before, most likely due to him being absorbed in thought earlier. Aen was surprised Danny was able to convince the guard so easily, something he said whilst he could not hear them speak must have convinced the man to let them pass.

Aen shrugged it off, it mattered naught to Aen, as long as they were closer to their destination unhindered it did little to irk Aen. Just as Aen and Danny were passing through the gate, they were stopped by the faunas, whatever it was Danny said that had convinced the faunas was now hinted at with the faunas's next words, "Hey, Rex usually hangs out at the far ends of the docks, that's where I would start looking if I were you." Danny nodded to the faunas before moving on excitedly, with Aen in tow.

Whatever it was Danny said that convinced the man to let them in must have had something to do with Rex, judging by the faunas's warm smile at the mention of his name, they must have been good friends. Whilst Aen was pondering Danny had lead him through an undefined pathway through the tall grass that surrounded the smugglers' cove.

Aen took a moment to take in the scenery of the cove that stood before him, he would have found the sight enticing had he not taken notice of the many musty boats that sat tied to the poles of an equally musty dock. From what Aen could see, the smuggling den was not in very good shape, it was a ramshackle hideout at best, but despite the decrepit sight, many 'sailors' could be seen running about the docks doing their best to get their goods gone as fast as possible.

It was a technic that worked surprisingly well, even in Aen's time, it was prominent, getting your smuggled goods out of your hands and into the hands of another as fast as possible worked far better than someone wold expect. However by using this technic the results were often unsavory, people would be running to and fro faster than you could follow, it all resulted in a bustling mess in the end.

And a bustling mess these docks were, by the time Aen first set foot on the docks he was already feeling uneasy, Aen was not fond of large crowds and throwing him right into the center of a crowd of thieves and smugglers did little to ease his worries. Aen was not given ample time to dwell on his worries though as Danny took the moment to talk to him.

"Ok sir, remember what the guy said, don't do anything crazy alright?" Aen nodded in agreement, he knew that his armor stood out enough as it was, and he did not want to attract anymore attention to himself than necessary. "I remember Danny. Now then, you know this place best so take lead."

Danny nodded to Aen and began his way through the bustling crowd of thieves and smugglers all whilst making sure his pockets would not be picked. Aen followed in Danny's lead and made sure to keep a heedful eye on his equipment at all times, there was no telling how many people saw Aen as a treasure trove for pickpocketing.

-S-

The two had not gone far, yet it felt as though they had traveled a large distance, navigating through the large crowd had proved itself to be much harder than they had imagined. Aen was surprised at how easy it was to lose your sense of direction when in a large crowd, his secluded farm life left little opportunities to travel into the city resulting in Aen being vastly inexperienced when it came to navigating cities, and with the inexperience of navigating cities, came the inexperience of navigating large crowds. Luckily though, Danny and Aen were able to find their way though the bustling crowd and they now found themselves in a more secluded section of the docks where many less people found their homes.

All that was left for the two to do, was to find Rex, and judging by the amount of people in this section of the docks, their job shouldn't prove to be all that challenging. Aen would need a description of the man if he wished to find him though, so he asked his companion, "Danny, what does Rex look like? If you wish for me to assist you in your search then I would require you to inform me of his description." Danny happily obliged to Aen's request and began to describe the man for Aen.

"Well... One thing that should be pretty hard to miss is his blue sailor's hat, he never takes that thing of, also his beard is pretty noticeable. He has big scruffy white beard, he shouldn't be that hard to miss." Aen took this as an ample amount of information to supply his search, but he thought of another way that they may narrow down their search, "Danny, you say he owns a ship, correct?" Danny nodded "Well then, what is the name of his ship, do you know?"

"I'm pretty sure that the ship he has now is the same one he had when he worked for the CFS, and I've seen that one before." Danny stopped and thought hard, he kew that he had known the name of the ship but he could not remember, all he knew was that it started with 'The' "I can't remember the name of the ship, but I do remember that it was two words and it started with 'The'"

Aen looked visibly downcast at the news of him not knowing the ship's name, but he at least had some leads he could go off of. If Danny's time held similar customs to Aen's, then most of the ships would have been given names as if they were a child, ships that had a 'title' and not a 'name' were uncommon in Aen's time. So if Rex's ship began with 'The,' then his ship would be the odd one out, making Aen and Danny's search tremendously easier.

Though he had a lack of information Aen still thanked Danny and began his search for the ship, if Danny could remember the parts of the ship's name, then he very likely remembered the shape as well, so Aen used this to his advantage in finding the ship.

It had not been long before the two had found a ship with the name of 'The Aurora.' Though the ship was there, it lacked it's owner, to make sure no other ships in the secluded section of the docks they were in shared a similar naming scheme, Aen had checked over the names of all the rest, and what he had found pleased him. None of the other ships in the secluded section shared a naming scheme that used 'The' in it, with this information, Aen was confident that this was the ship that they were pursuing, but to make sure, he asked to Danny to confirm that this ship was in fact, Rex's

Danny inspected the ship closely for any flaws that may set the ship apart from Rex's, Danny had to dig deep into his memory, but in the end he was able to conclude this was very likely Rex's ship. "Aen, this is definitely it, good job finding it. The only problem is that Rex isn't here" Aen was aware that Rex was not there so he decided that the best course of action for them to take would be for them to sit and wait for Rex to return to the ship.

"I see that he is not here, perhaps our best course of action is to sit here and wait for Rex to return to his ship, I doubt that he would be gone very long" Danny agreed to Aen's plan and sat himself down in the back of Rex's ship. Aen followed in his lead and sat down in the back of the ship, when he sat he stopped to admire the craftsmanship of the vehicle.

Though the ship was far from being in perfect condition Aen was still awed by the vehicle's workings, never in his lifetime would he think that a big hunk of metal would float on the water. Though Aen found the ship's buoyancy inspiring, he also admired the ship's motor, he wondered how the machine worked, it was very strange watching the ships leave from the docks with their bows up in the air as their sterns dipped into the ocean leaving a trail of disturbed water. How were they able to spin the strange metal wheel fast enough to move the vehicle?

Even if Aen had learned about the strange boats from Aesir's mind link transfer there was still many unknown factors regarding the boats and their workings. Aen was not given the amount of time he wanted observe the ships though as Danny had interrupted his train of thought with a question, "So, sir if you don't mind me asking, well, what actually is your name, you never told me what it was anyway." The fact that Aen had not told Danny his name was a shocking one to Aen, how had he forgot to tell him his name, he was given ample opportunities to do so but he had been to absorbed in thought to notice, it was a habit Aen really had to kick.

"Oh! I apologize sincerely, it had not occurred to me that I had forgot to tell you my name, I apologize on behalf of my rudeness. My name is Aen." Aen hoped that he did not come off as uncaring, not telling someone your name does a lot to their impair their trust for you, thankfully, Danny being the boy he was accepted the apology, but not without a remark. "You have a strange name, does it mean anything?" Aen did not take offense to Danny's remark, he knew well that his name presumably stood out from the other names of this time, and unfortunately his name did not mean anything, it was simply what it was entitled, a name.

"No, my name does not hold any meanings or symbolism. My name may sound strange, but that is my name, and I am proud to hold it." Danny seemed to think about the name, hoping to find any connections to anything that it may relate to, and when he found none he decided to inquire Aen of another matter that betwixt him. "Well you have strange name and all, but what I couldn't help but notice is your eyes, why do they glow like that, it's kinda creepy actually, since I can't see your face. Does it have anything to do with your semblance?"

Aen internally cringed when Danny asked the question, he hoped that Danny would not ask him this question. And yet again, Aen was forced into making up a false tale of how his became how they are.

Aen vaguely remembered the mention of semblance in the mind transfer that Aesir conducted, even Aesir was unsure of what it was so Aen was left with limited information, but what Aesir did know about semblance, was transferred to Aen. He knew that it was similar to what magic would do, but with much different and more outlandish results, where magic was consistent in it's results, semblance was much more sporadic, and since semblance was so sporadic, Aen could use that to his advantage.

"Oh, uh, yes my Semblance. You see, my semblance allows me to alter the appearance and uses of my weapon, it is an ability that is beyond useful and I am eternally grateful for my semblance's ability. The semblance's practicality came at a price though, use of my semblance results in my eyes shinning a strange ethereal glow, though it may look as though it puts me at a disadvantage, it does nothing to degrade my eyesight's efficiency, think of the glow as an exhaust of semblance use. Unfortunately the glow lasts much longer than I would prefer..."

Aen hoped that his explanation would be sufficient enough for Danny, though he had limited information on the topic of semblance, he felt as though he did a presentable job at covering up the glow of his eyes with the use of semblance. And thankfully it seemed as though Danny had believed Aen's explanation, as he had asked a logical question when Aen had finished, "So is that what that bright light was in the sewers when you beat up all the guys with the staff?" Though Aen was relieved beyond display that Danny seemed to believe his story, he did not show it, out of fear that his sudden sight of relief would do something to convince Danny that his story was false, so he responded to Danny's question simply and briefly, "Yes that indeed was me using my semblance, hence that reason my eyes are glowing"

Aen would have hoped that Danny would stop asking questions, but Danny continued to interrogate Aen, "You said that your eyes glow for a long time, how long is that exactly?" Aen thought very briefly on a stretch of time that would sound reasonable before responding to Danny, "I would estimate that the effects last around a month before they wear off" Danny just responded in a 'hmm' of appreciation to Aen's statement before he started to ask another question, "That must be pr-" Danny was never able to finish his sentence though, as he was interrupted by a loud yell of "Hey!" from the other end of the docks.

Aen snapped his head to attention, only to see the angry figure of a white bearded man with a blue sailor's cap on his head approaching with angry steps and clenched fists. From what Aen could see, the description of the man matched exactly what Danny described Rex to look like, and judging by the matching description, Aen safely assumed that this man was Rex. "What the hell are you doing on my ship huh!? I can't leave this damn ship alone for more than five goddamn minuted without some of you thieves rummaging through my stuff!"

It appeared as though Rex mistook Aen for a thief that likely was very common on the docks, and it also appeared as though this was not Rex's first time dealing with thieves. Aen did not want to anger the man anymore than he already was, so he stood from his seat across from Danny and stepped off the boat, slowly but surely all whilst keeping his hands where Rex could see them. "Sir, you misunderstand, I am only waiting for a man by the name of Rex, and this is ship, if I am right, belongs to him, so you must be Rex, correct?" Rex looked taken back by what Aen said and instead of responding to him, he instead brushed past him with a stern glare saying "I don't know who you are or what your selling, but I don't want any of it. So stay out of my way, and stay off my ship!"

Aen attempted to retaliate, but Rex did not listen, he marched past Aen with a furious expression adorning his face, that furious expression did not stay on his face for long though. Rex kept walking towards his ship before he abruptly stopped in his place, instead of the previously furious expression that found it's home on Rex's face, in it's stead stood an expression of happiness yet disbelief, it was a bittersweet expression, one that could not be explained in words, one that just... was. Aen had looked on to see what it was that had caused Rex to react in the speechless way he was, only to see Danny standing in the boat looking on towards Rex with an equally shocked yet happy expression.

Despite Danny's earlier optimism, it seemed that he didn't fully expect Aen to be able to successfully find Rex, judging by his apprehensive reaction. Silence reigned supreme over the three for a decently long time before Aen decided he would be the one to end its dictatorship. He walked up to Rex and placed a hand on his shoulder as friendly gesture before breaking the silence, "As you can see, that is in fact Danny. I take it you two have been looking for each other for a long time?"

The expression of disbelief still did not leave Rex's face even when he turned his head to talk to Aen, "W-where did you find him?" Rex said with trepidation. Aen sought not to keep him in the dark on his adventures and told him of the events prior to their arrival at the docks. "I arrived in this city not long ago, and upon my arrival I had a small run in with a local gang of this area, the CFS I believe you call them. I found myself in a minute scuffle with the group, but I had come out on top, one was left though and I sought to do to him what I had done to the others. Yet, I saw the sadness and defeat in his eyes, and I found it in myself to allow him a chance. Now I stand before you with Danny by my side, and if what he told me is true, then you two have been looking for each other for a long time now."

Rex stood looking at Aen, he wondered just who this man was and what his intentions were, surely he didn't bring Danny here without expecting some kind of reward. "Look buddy, I don't know you and I don't know what you want, but you don't know the half of it." Rex took a cautious look around, as if making sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, before continuing, "I take it Danny told you about my previous... profession by now?" Aen only nodded in return and allowed Rex to continue, "Well then, me and Danny both wanted to defect, but there was no way we could do it together, it was too risky. So I told him that I would defect and hide out here and wait for him, we would do it one at a time, I would slip out unnoticed, and then a few days later Danny would do the same, but that never happened. I made it out without a problem and I expected Danny would have little trouble also, but after about two weeks of waiting it turned out I was wrong, I thought he was dead. I didn't know what to do so I ended becoming a smuggler so that I could hide away from the CFS, and now five months later, here we are."

While Aen appreciated the background information of these two, he still wondered why it was Rex had told him this. He expected Rex to take Danny back and then get them to Vale, he expected a short lived relationship of mutual respect nothing more, and now here Rex was telling him the story of him and Danny, Aen didn't disagree with his decision per say, but he found it strange just how open Rex was to Aen with such sensitive information. "I appreciate the lore Rex, but why are you telling me this, such sensitive information should be kept to yourself, don't you think?"

Rex sighed in response to Aen's question, which left Aen puzzled before Rex spoke with annoyance detectable in his voice. "Look buddy, you brought Danny back to me, and I'm guessing that it was no easy ordeal, so you at least deserve to know what happened between me and Danny." Aen agreed with Rex's response, but his questioning was still not done, "I suppose you are right, but I have one thing that I must ask of you, I hope that it does not prove to be too difficult for you. Both Danny and I are searching for a way to Vale, and Danny told me that you could get us there with your boat, I know that I ask much of you, but I hope that you can comply with my request. It is of the upmost importance that I get to Vale"

Rex held a longing look in his eyes and stood silent for a moment, pondering what it was that he should do, he stood silent for a moment longer before responding to Aen with a somber tone. "I can't, don't take it the wrong way, but I can't." Danny's face visibly dropped at Rex's response, but he was not alone, although Aen's face could not be seen, his aura of confidence and overall pride dropped just as Danny's face had.

Aen was persistent though, and he questioned Rex's response, "Why is it that you can't take us? while I understand that you may be physically incapable of doing so, I would still like to know your reasoning as to why we cannot leave" Again, Rex sighed in response to Aen, but this time Rex spoke with somber tone instead of an annoyed one, "I would love to take you guys to Vale, honestly I would, it would be helpful for all of us, but It's not that don't want too. Recently the CFS have partnered up with this smuggling den, they realized that this den was doing an acceptable job with their work, so they took advantage of it. Their aren't allot of Smuggling dens left that aren't paired up with the CFS, and those that are, are heavily guarded by the CFS, nothing gets in or out without them noticing, I was just about to pack up and leave to another den once I caught wind of what was happening, but that's when you guys showed up." Rex took a deep breath after he finished explaining his reasoning.

He then looked back at Aen and spoke, "Now you see why I can't take you?" Rex had done a thorough job of explaining why they couldn't leave, but Aen was still persistent. "There must be some way around this surely we could get out somehow, maybe we could leave from another smuggling den?" Aen's suggestions were shot down by Rex as he yet again explained why they couldn't leave, "I'm not sure you understand, we can't leave! If we try to leave from another den we would have to get my boat there, but we can't without the CFS noticing my absence, we wouldn't have a boat, there's no way around it!" Rex now spoke with more anger than before, he was beginning to become annoyed with Aen's constant questioning, and he was about to continue before he was interrupted by Danny, who had stayed silent throughout their conversation.

"There is a way!" Both Rex and Aen's attention had snapped back to Danny once he had shouted, both stayed quiet though, allowing Danny the silence he needed to continue. "Rex, remember how the CFS split up into cells, each with their own leader watching over their portion of the city?" Rex nodded towards Danny but spoke with confusion, "Yeah, I do remember, but I don't see how that's so important."

Danny cured Rex's confusion by digressing on his point from earlier, "Well if I remember correctly, the cell watching over this portion of the city is very small, all they have to do is watch the northern docks. So they shouldn't be that hard to take down, all we would have to do is sabotage their HQ in this area, when that happens we would be free to leave whenever we want until they get their HQ back up and running" Aen saw reason in Danny's plan and decided to back him up in his defense, "Danny has a solid plan Rex, this could work."

Rex still stayed persistent in his point though, and yet again argued against Danny and Aen, "It would be far to dangerous to pull this off though, raiding a CFS HQ is easier said then done, even if this is their smallest one. Plus none of us would be able to fight off an entire HQ, it's just too dangerous Danny" Where most kids Danny's age would have agreed with the adult and dropped their argument, Danny just smiled, "Who said we would all be going in" He said, he then looked at Aen with a knowing smile before continuing, "Aen here, was able to sneak up on, AND, wipe out a CFS outpost in the center of the city, where their defenses are the strongest, and if he was able to do that with no trouble, then he would be able to sabotage this tiny little HQ with no problem"

Aen once again backed up Danny in his defense and even took the liberty of adding to Danny's plan, "Neither you nor Danny would even have to accompany me, so no harm would befall you or Danny, what do you have to lose?" Rex sighed in defeat, he knew that these two would not be convinced, though they were annoying, he appreciated Danny's newfound confidence, where it had come from though was unknown to him, it seemed that Aen had more of an impact on him than he had originally thought.

"I guess there's no changing your guys's minds. Fine." Rex said, he then turned to Aen and continued, "Aen, right?" Aen nodded, "Well then, you can go and sabotage their HQ, but if you mess up, you won't be hearing from me or Danny again. The HQ is near the northern end of the northern docks, which are the ones that are just near us if you were wondering. I don't know exactly where it is, but I do know that it's somewhere around there, once you get in there mess up as much stuff as you can, make sure you smash and break everything electronic in their as well, don't hold back."

Aen could still detect the distain in Rex's voice, even if he had allowed Aen to carry through with the plan, it did not mean he approved of it. Nonetheless though, Aen had said his goodbyes and left for the entrance, on his way there he thought of how he would find the 'HQ' as they had called it, he supposed it was a main base of operations, judging by how Rex and Danny spoke of it, and if it was the HQ for an elusive crime syndicate, then it may prove difficult to find though.

Aen found himself at the gate him and Danny had entered through and found the faunas from earlier at the gates, "Leaving already?" he said, Aen only nodded his confirmations to the faunas and exited through the gates. All that was left was for him to find the HQ, then he could push everything into action, that thought process brought Aen back to the thought of Aesir, he should inform him of what has happened while he had the chance. Aen found a secluded spot in the alleyway he was in and pulled his disquisition stone free from one of the many pouches adorning his armor, he imagined Aesir's visage and gently touched the stone's smooth surface.

The smooth surface of the stone produced the strange ripple effect that it had produced before, and upon the rock's surface appeared Aesir's form. "Hello Aen, I take it much has happened in the passage of time since you last called me?" Aen nodded to Aesir and began recounting the events of what happened throughout the long day.

"Yes, much has happened Aesir..."

 **-S-**

 **A/N; First off, I am so so sorry for how long it took me to update this story! I was actually chugging along at a decent pace for this chapter and was almost finished with it when I accidentally deleted the ENTIRE chapter, I'm sure you can imagine just how pissed I was. I wasn't even able to start working on it again after it got deleted because I had finals coming up, once I finished my finals though I got back to working on it again, but let me tell you, it is extremely boring to rewrite an entire chapter, and since I had to rewrite it, my motivation was really killed. I was so unmotivated to write, so in came good old procrastination to ruin my time. Enough about my horrible experience though and more about the story.**

 **I apologize for how short this chapter is and the lack of action all together, originally when I wrote it the first time, it was a lot longer, it even included Aen going to the HQ in it. But since I was so unmotivated to write, I decided to split it in half and include the HQ raid in the next chapter. So I hope that the wait was semi worth it at least.**

 **One thing that I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I would like to mention now is about Aen's weapon, Since Aen has the ability to transpose his weapon into almost any type of weapon he wants, that leaves me open to a lot of different weapons I can play around with in my writing. So, since there are so many possibilities for weapons that Aen can use, I would like you guys to leave some suggestions for which types of weapons you guys would like to see show up in the next chapters leave as many suggestions as you want in the reviews, it could be axes, spears, you name it, and hopefully it will find it's way into the next chapter.**

 **So, with all that out of the way, thank you all for reading my story and continuing to follow it even after it took me forever to update on, leave any reviews or criticisms in the reviews section. See you later mah dudes, and stay toasty.**

 **From - Loasty of the Toasty**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Malignant Tradeoff

"How magnificent! If only I were there to experience these new inventions first hand" Aen had taken the time to inform Aesir of all of his discoveries during his brief travels, while Aen was aware Aesir would be pleased to here of his discoveries he still had not expected the long winded questions Aesir had bombarded him with.

Even if Aesir was a god with an affinity for knowledge, Aen was still surprised with the amount of questions Aesir was able to ask, all ranging from the simplest questions to the most abstract ones. Who would've thought a god of knowledge that mainly focused his studies on the behavioral and mental actions of humans and all life surrounding such, would be so intent on knowing of the workings of a simple boat. Nonetheless, Aen had complied with his inquiries and had told him all he was able to figure out about the boats he saw.

Shortly after Aen had left the docks and began his long-winded summary of the events of the past hours, (or days, Aen was unsure of the time lapse from his entry into the sewers and his exit at this point,) night had begun to fall, successfully leaving Aen in a compromising situation. He had a vague lead on where he needed to go to find his target location of the local CFS HQ, but he was unsure where to begin his searches other than at the northern docks.

He knew where the northern docks were located luckily as Danny and Aen had passed them on their way towards the smuggling den, he remembered himself saddening slightly as they turned away from them. Unfortunately though he was still left with a severe lack of information, he supposed the best way to begin his search would be to look for places that seemed out of the ordinary at the northern docks, but before he left he would have to conclude his conversation with Aesir, lest he finds himself caught out in the dead of the night alone in a back alley. While Aen was confident in his fighting abilities, he still did not want to take any chances.

"Yes Aesir, I am aware that you would enjoy to visit, but you can not. I think that the information I have given you is sufficient, so would you please allow me to find this base before I lose myself to the darkness of the night?" He said rather annoyed.

Aesir released a sigh of disappointment at Aen's statement before realizing that it would be best to let Aen continue on with what he needed to do, "Alright Aen, I'll let you go, but when you contact me next I hope to hear of how those boats work."

Aen sighed in annoyance before severing the link between he and Aesir on the disquisition stone, before returning it to his pouch. With Aesir no longer hindering Aen's ability to travel in privacy, he began his walk towards the northern docks all while pondering on how he would find the HQ he was looking for.

Whilst Aen was in the process of making his way over towards the northern docks he quickly summarized all the details he had on the HQ's whereabouts starting from where it was located. Though he was limited on information of the HQ's appearance, he could only assume that it would be a warehouse or abandoned building of some sorts as they were the best places to hide. Aen reasoned a guess that the HQ would be more likely to be in an abandoned building, presumably a small warehouse, nothing overly large though.

If what Rex said about this HQ being the smallest was true, then that would help immensely to narrow down Aen's searches. Basing off of Aen's previous ponderings combined with the information he knew, it would make sense to search for a small abandoned building or warehouse, as that would be the most logical place begin. Though Aen now knew where to begin his search, he still knew naught of where to find the warehouses or buildings he was looking for, though it was highly likely that there would be abandoned buildings near the northern docks, whether it be the remnants of an old storage house or a forgotten home, assuredly there would at least be some. Although it was also likely that there were not, and if there weren't any, that would set Aen back to step one of his searchings. He just hoped that he was correct.

Aen had arrived at the docks by the time the sun set, while Aen was unhappy about being in unfamiliar territory at night, he also saw the advantages it supplied him with. If the criminals of this time operated even the slightest bit similar to the ones from his time, then it was likely that they would become more known during the night hours, with no authoritative individuals to keep watch during the night, men would be sure to be out on the prowl.

And it was these thoughts that had cultivated a plan in Aen's mind, if Aen was unable to find the headquarters within a timely fashion, then he would be open to the idea of interrogation, it was more than likely that some of the people he could find out at night knew of the warehouse's location, and better yet if Aen could find someone with a CFS uniform he was positive he could get the information out of them.

And so Aen began his search, using the limited amount of information he had as leverage in his search for the CFS headquarters.

-S-

Aen had searched well into the night and was unable to find anything that could pass for a headquarters, while there was still much left of the northern docks that he could search, he would not be able to find it before the sun rose again. If the sun did rise again, his chances of finding the headquarters would drop significantly, so Aen chose to go with his, 'plan b.' While interrogating someone would be easier than actually finding the base himself, it was still no easy feat.

Lots goes into interrogating someone, more so than what meets the eye, many factors had to be kept in check whilst interrogating, but Aen was sure he could bypass some of the factors by using his new found appearance. He was sure it would be unpleasant to watch a living corpse move and talk before your very eyes.

The only large challenge that now presented itself to Aen was the absence of people that were viable for interrogation, finding someone to interrogate, whilst easier than finding the building itself, still proved difficult to Aen. Aen would need to find someone before sunrise, preferably someone that's part of the CFS, while Aen had no qualms with interrogating a civilian, he hoped he wouldn't have to do so.

After thinking about his approach he devised a plan that could likely work if executed properly, he would pose as an average citizen of this world and, 'wander' into a back alley secluded from society. The plan was solid, but Aen ran upon a small factor that went against his plans workings, and that was his appearance.

Aen would find it hard for someone to mistake him as a civilian when he was wearing a suit of armor akin to that of a knight from a storybook, though he could also pose as a huntsman from this time. He supposed that some of them shared a similar battle-ready appearance as him judging by how the men in the sewers mistook him for one, and gauging by their reaction to him during his excursion into the sewers, it was clear that the CFS did not take a liking to the huntsman of this city, and he could use to his advantage as well.

With all parts of the plan thought out, all that was left was for Aen to set the plan into motion.

He began his search for a more secluded area of the docks and came upon a back alley near the waterfront, he took in surroundings in a brief look and began to walk into the alley.

-S-

Aen had waited for well over a few hours and began to lose hope in the fact that anyone would show up into the alley, he was beginning to even think that his plan was a fruitless endeavor and that he was coming no closer to finding the base he was searching for. After a small mental battle, Aen decided that he would continue with his original plan, and search for the base traditionally.

Just as Aen was about to turn tail and move on to searching again, he heard a gruff voice call from behind him in the alley... It appeared Aen's luck had not run dry just yet.

Aen replicated a smirk under his helmet with his cadaverous face, and began to slowly turn around and listen to what the voice had to say, hopefully it was just what wanted.

"Hey you!" The now identified man yelled, "I'm talking to you!"

Behind the talking man could be seen three other men holding similar weapons to those of the men from the sewers, the only man that held a weapon with a different appearance was the man talking, who held a rather sharp looking khopesh. Aen took it that this man was of a higher ranking than those behind him, making him the target of Aen's curiosity.

The man adorned a smirk upon his face and approached Aen slowly with a menacing stride, "Another lone Huntsman huh?" The man scoffed, this was all the confirmation Aen needed aside from the jackets nearly identical to those of the men in the sewers. It was without a doubt that these men were part of the CFS. Whilst the man spewed his threats Aen took the moment to analyze the men who planned to attack.

The three men that followed behind the supposed leader, were naught of interest to Aen, and it was only the man wielding the kopesh that drew Aen's attention, "You know what happens to huntsman that stumble into our woods buddy?"

Whilst the man talked Aen was able to gather all the information he needed to begin his assault, the man with the khopesh would be the first target, though Aen would refrain from killing him and instead incapacitate him, the three men that stood behind the leader would need to be dealt with using swift strikes from a falchion that Aen planned on using, their lives would not be spared, for there was no need for vermin like them on the streets, though Aen wasn't against the prospect of killing these men, he would take no pleasure in doing so.

Aen waited for the man to talk once again to begin his assault, "We make sure tha-"

The man was never able to finish his sentence though as Aen quickly drew forth his longsword from his sheath in a lightning motion striking the man on the side of the head with the pommel of his sword, doing a serviceable job of knocking the man out. Aen then quickly transposed the longsword into the falchion he wanted and began to attack the surprised men.

"What the fu-" one of the men that had followed the leader began to speak, but just as his leader, the sentence fell short as he fell victim to a horizontal slash aimed at the throat of one of the man. The other men were not spared a gory sight as the man's blood found its home on the faces of his companions along with Aen's own helmet, Aen wasted no time and began to attack the other men hoping to land a hit or two before the men could make out what was happening.

Aen's attempts at speed were rewarded as the man he moved to attack second, was struck in the leg with one of Aen slashes, fortunately for the man, he was able to jump out of the way of the brunt of the attack, but he was unable to avoid all of it. While Aen winded up for a second attack he could faintly see the third man reaching for the discarded khopesh of their leader, while it would be unsavory for the man to reach the weapon it was not entirely bad for Aen, it could be easily worked around given that the man was not adept in that weapon's fighting style.

The attack that Aen had wound up while he watched the man in the back connected with the metal club of the man, knocking it away leaving the man open for a counter attack. Aen took the opening left out for him, and with a practiced strike, left a rather gruesome gash across the torso of the man, the blade made fine work of rending flesh.

Aen took advantage of his brief moment of reprieve, and pulled free his shield from the confines of his back, with practiced ease Aen adopted a defensive stance in preparation for the inevitable attack that would come from the newly created khopesh wielder.

It appeared that this man was smarter than his comrades and instead of attacking with reckless abandon as his late companions had, he decided to instead adopt a defensive stance that could allow as a counter to Aen's attacks, showing that he was clearly more skilled than Aen had thought him to be.

After a brief moment of silence filled with concentrated stares and malevolent gazes, it was clear to Aen that the man would not take the liberty of striking first. If the man would not strike than Aen would have to initiate the battle.

With lightning speed Aen pounced forward releasing a powerful strike towards the torso of the man, the man had not expected the sudden speed of Aen's movements but was nonetheless able to narrowly dodge the deadly blow. Aen purposely allowed his swing to idle just long enough away from his body in the hopes that the clearly skilled man would see it as a fault in Aen's attack, and take the opportunity to counter-attack, leading him right into Aen's trap.

Sure enough, the man had seen the blade idle at his side, and swung the sharp khopesh with zeal, hoping to end Aen's already nonexistent life. Unfortunately, the man had waded right into Aen's trap, and when the man swung Aen lifted his shield to his side facing outward from his body.

The blade connected with the shield and harmlessly slid off the shield's hard surface, allowing for Aen a moment to counter. Aen's falchion swung with speed towards the torso of the man, connecting and resulting in yet another fatal strike. The final man dropped to the floor lifeless, and Aen let loose a pointless breath.

Aen's stature straightened, and he transposed his bloodied weapon back into the form of a longsword so that it may fit the shape of the sheath, it was a minor inconvenience to need to transpose the blade back to its longsword base after every fight, but the perks of the blade far outweighed the inconveniences.

Aen admired the swift work he had made of the men, but he took no pride in it, he now wore the title of a murderer in this new time. Though it was not the first time he had taken the life of another human, it still felt no better to kill than the first time he did, whilst hearing of a man being killed by another back in his time wasn't uncommon or anything to fuss about, he was unsure if that was the same case in this time. Aen just hoped that his repercussions wouldn't catch up to him in due time.

With the three henchmen out of the way, all that was left for Aen to do was wake the unconscious man and begin his interrogation. Aen pulled the man up off the ground and pinned his unconscious form up against the brick wall of the alley, hopefully the sudden movement of Aen pulling him to his feet would be enough to wake the man from his unconscious state.

Aen had realized that the sudden movement was still not enough to wake the man and he instead began to shake the man awake, the shaking proved to work as Aen could see the man's eyes briefly flicker as he was shaken awake.

Aen observed the man's dazed movements as he slowly came to his senses, judging by the man's confused look it was clear that he was still attempting to remember what had happened to him prior to him being pinned to the wall. After a brief moment of waiting Aen watched as the man's eyes shot open as he came to the realization of just how much of a compromising position he was in, "What the hell, who are you!?" the man yelled.

The man squirmed in his pinned position attempting uselessly to escape from Aen's vice-like grip, "Let go of me you asshole!" The man screamed and yelled all while spouting empty threats towards Aen, if the man kept yelling as he was now he would be sure to attract unnecessary attention to the two of them so, promptly, Aen covered his mouth with an armored hand and began to speak in a low and intimidating voice.

"Listen to me, unless you want to end up like your companions behind me-" Aen nodded in the direction of the deceased CFS members, "Then I suggest that you listen very closely to what I have to say to you." The man looked past Aen and to his complete and utter horror discovered the dead and bleeding corpses of his former comrades, the sight would be enough to shake any man, and Aen only watched as the man's eyes widened even more than Aen thought possible.

The man looked back towards Aen's glowing 'eyes,' and Aen could see the fear in the man's own eyes, this interrogation wouldn't take very long judging by the looks on the man's face. "Now then, do you want to answer my questions?" Aen stated calmly.

The man frantically nodded in response to Aen's question, and he removed his hand from the man's mouth allowing him a way to communicate with him.

Now that the man was ready to comply with Aen, he began what would be a series of informative questions for Aen. "First, I am looking for your headquarters around here, you wouldn't happen to know where that is would you?" Aen spoke his question with a slow and methodic tone, hoping that it would be enough to intimidate the man.

"What, w-why the hell would you want to know that?" The man spoke with fear in his voice, though Aen had been able to intimidate the man it was clear he was still not willing to give up the location just yet, Aen would have to be more physical.

Aen pushed the man harder up against the wall and again repeated his question, but this time with some added threats, "Why I want to find it isn't your concern, what your concern is though is keeping yourself alive, and unless you wish to have your throat cut wide open, I suggest you tell me where that base is right now." It appeared that the added threats worked well enough to convince the man to talk as Aen watched him visibly flinch at the mention of killing him, "Ok ok I'll tell you!" The man exclaimed in fear, "j-just don't do anything to me o-ok?" he continued.

Aen replicated a smile, as well as his cadaverous face would allow, this man would be his ticket straight to the base, "Good, now you're going to take me to it right now. If you make any attempt to escape, you're not gonna live to see the sunrise." The man shivered in fear as Aen pulled him fourth from the wall and let go of him, the man only looked back in confusion when Aen pushed him forward, seemingly looking for some sort of confirmation so that he may continue and was only met with Aen's yell for him to continue. The man flinched and began to walk forward, leading Aen right towards the base he had spent most of the night searching for, why Aen had not begun his search this way was beyond him.

As Aen followed behind the man, he felt, relieved, to say the least, that he did not need to remove his helmet. Aen was grateful that he did not remove his helmet, even if he did not plan on letting the man live he still didn't want to have yet another man know of his appearance, the man in the sewers was one too many. Now that Aen thought back on it, he regret showing his face at all, even though it was unintentional that his face was revealed in the first place, he should have killed the man that saw his face. There was no doubt that the man had already reported back to the HQ in that area, every member of the CFS in the immediate area probably already knew of Aen's presence and Danny's disappearance. Not killing those men proved to be more of a thorn in the side than Aen had anticipated, he just hoped that he was not being searched for as he walked now.

Attacking this base would more than likely put Aen on a watch-list for the CFS more than he already was, though if Aen left no evidence of it ever being him to invade, then perhaps he could skirt the CFS's ever watchful eye. Aen just hoped that the base would be as small as he had hoped it to be, the last thing Aen wanted was to invade a base that would need the combined power of many men to invade.

-S-

Yet again Aen had found himself lost in thought as he walked, and spared little attention to his surroundings as he was directed to the base, Aen was pulled from his absentminded thinking though by the voice of the man he had 'questioned.' "Ok, w-we're here now" The man spoke with a fearful tone filled with trepidation and unease. Aen took the moment to take in his surroundings before speaking with the man.

Aen was surprised when his eyes were greeted with the sight of the docks' edge, Aen took a brief moment to quickly scan over his surroundings once more before coming to terms with the fact that he was in fact, looking out over the ocean, had the man lead him to the wrong place? There was not a single building in sight, how could you hide a base here? Aen's eyes set upon the man and his gaze quickly became filled with malevolence.

The man noticed Aen's angry gaze and quickly attempted to diffuse the situation before Aen made a move to harm him, "N-No S-Sir it's not what it looks like! I know you might think the base is not here, b-but it's actually under the docks!" The man yelled. "There's a h-hatch right here you see!" The man quickly reached down with shaking hands and fumbled to remove a loose plank of wood from the flooring of the dock.

Aen watched as the man removed the loose board from the floor of the docks and tossed it aside, in the process revealing a small opening through the dock's wooden maw. Aen calmed at the realization that he had not been tricked by the man, Aen's was grateful for the man's 'cooperation' but nonetheless, he could not allow the man to live. Letting him loose would only bolster Aen's already wanted status, the more attention that was drawn to Aen by unwanted sources would only make his job harder, and if purging the world of a great evil came at the cost of a few lives... then so be it.

As much as Aen resented the idea of killing an unarmed and surrendering man, he had to remind himself that what he was doing would only help. Aen slowly pulled his sword fourth from his sheath and readied to finish the man.

Aen's Actions did not go unnoticed by the man however, and Aen watched with sorrow as the man's eyes widened at the sight of his blade. "W-woah hey man, what the hell are you doing?" The man spoke with trepidation. Aen approached the man slowly with a menacing stride and uttered an apology "I apologize for my actions, I know you will not forgive me, but please know that I do this for the defiance of man."

The man no longer wore a mask of fear but instead one of anger as he realized Aen had not withheld his end of the bargain, "You goddamned basta-"

The man's sentence fell upon naught as a sword was driven through the chest of the man, hot blood dripped from the sword's blade as the man let loose his final breath. Aen took no pleasure in the cold-blooded murder, he knew that what he did must have been done, but it did naught to ease his worries. Why this man had much more of an effect on him than the others, Aen would not know, but nonetheless, it affected him all the same.

Aen shook the dispiriting thoughts from his head and set his mind on the task ahead of him, it would not be an easy one, but Aen was sure that with care he could deal with the obstacle. Aen thought it safe to assume that there would be a large congregation of men below the docks on the suspended platforms of the base, overruling the option of stealth, Aen would have to come in fast and swift.

No doubt more of those men with the crossbow-like weapons would be found below. Though Aen had not seen firsthand the effects of the weapon, he assumed it to be devastating. If the weapons acted any bit similarly to a crossbow, then he would have to take head to not allow them to land a hit, crossbows were particularly good against his armor, and he assumed these would be no different.

Aen slowly climbed down the ladder that was hidden below the false paneling of the dock's, and studied his immediate surroundings as he climbed.

From what he could see it appeared that most of the base consisted of flooring comprised of shoddy wood and metal attached to the support beams of the docks, acting as an impromptu floor for the CFS members. While most areas were left without walls, a few were, and Aen could clearly see some type of metal equipment within, he supposed those were what he needed to destroy if he wished to disrupt the base's workings.

Unfortunately, the ladder had been located right in the center of all of the base, meaning that Aen was spit right out into the middle of the base, exactly what he was hoping wouldn't happen. He had hoped he could be put into a position where he could bottleneck the enemies, and take them out one by one instead of fighting them all at once. Judging by the wide open platforms of the suspended base, given a few walkways leading to separate storage platforms, it was clear that Aen would have to fight in the center of it all, defensively.

Aen's presence did not go unnoticed for long, as a sentry posted near the bottom of the ladder moved to approach Aen with a metal club in hand. "Who the hell are you!?" The man yelled to Aen. When Aen turned to face the man, the blood that stained his formerly clean armor became noticed by the sentry. "Holy shit, what the hell? Who are you!?" The man's question was left unanswered and Aen used the man's worried and confused stare as a moment of distraction and took the initiative to attack.

No matter how he approached the situation it was clear that it would end the same way, no matter the circumstances, in a fight. And if it were to end in a fight no matter the circumstances, why not take advantages in the opening moments, though Aen was not entirely fond of the prospect of killing someone unprovoked as he had earlier, he knew it would be beneficial, he wished he could negotiate, but he knew there was no other option.

The tip of Aen's longsword met the chest of the sentry with alarming speed, giving the now deceased man no time to react. The others in the immediate area instantly became aware of their comrade's death and poised to attack Aen.

Before they could reach however, Aen transposed his longsword into the long form of a winged spear, the spear would allow Aen the range and defensive capabilities he would need to come out triumphant. Without wasting a second Aen pulled forth his shield and with practiced steps turned and stabbed the pointed end of his spear into the man charging towards Aen from behind, the man had met a swift death from the point of Aen's spear, he made the mistake of thinking he had the upper-hand.

Aen took notice of a man rearing his hand back to attack located at his side and wasted no time in reacting to the man's attack. Aen quickly pulled the spear from its fleshy sheath in the recently killed man's bosom and pivoted on his foot using the spear's head to cleave apart the attacking man's midsection, resulting in a bloody display as the man dropped to the ground dead.

With two of many killed in quick succession, Aen decided that being more aggressive in his approach would benefit him, it was clear these men were not heavily trained, active aggression would be the perfect approach. Disregarding all previous thoughts of a defensive fight, Aen took forward, springing fourth with his spear in hand, stabbing it through the throat of an unsuspecting attacker. While the attack was successful in killing the man, Aen had misjudged his own strength in the attack, resulting in the pointed end of the spear protruding from the back of the man's neck, successfully rending it trapped.

Though Aen was grateful for the newfound strength that came with his withered form, he did find it difficult to judge his own strength, he was glad Aesir had put the restraints on his armor, otherwise he feared what he could do with no form of judging his movements and attacks. It was clear it was still possible for Aen to misjudge his attacks though, if he were still of flesh then an attack like the one he made would not have gotten him into such a predicament as this one, he would just have to adapt.

Nonetheless though, Aen knew he had no time to remove the trapped spear before any others had a chance to attack, he would just have to make do with no spear before he could find a moment of downtime. Aen let go of the polearm just in time to see a metal club speeding towards his face, however, the club only met hard metal as Aen raised his shield just in time for the club to slide off harmlessly. With the successful deflection leaving the man exposed Aen grabbed him, and pushed his dazed form into the body of his comrade standing behind him toppling both.

With the two temporarily out of the fight, Aen took the extremely brief moment to calculate just how many members were left, and felt dread as he realized he was nowhere near close to done with the fight. From the brief moment Aen got, he could estimate there to be around twenty men left. Disregarding his own 'life' he sprung forward taking the initiative, hoping that his relentless aggression would bolster his chances of winning.

Aen's armored fist met with the face of the man unlucky enough to be the one Aen had targeted first. The fist created a resounding crack as blood exited from the man's mouth due to the force of the hit, Aen was sure he was knocked out. Though Aen's punch was effective he was unaware of the man moving to attack before it was too late.

The metal club met with Aen's breastplate, creating a sizable dent as it knocked Aen off balance, the man, thinking he had the best of Aen, moved to continue his attack chaining in an extra swing from his club. The club never met Aen's form though, as Aen was quick enough to grab the man's wrist mid swing stopping the club in its place, taking advantage of the moment, Aen slammed the pointed end of his shield directly into the forehead of the man, caving in the skull around it.

With swift movements, Aen released the man's arm, and ran towards his forgotten polearm. He grabbed the shaft mid-sprint and brutally tore it free from the deceased man's throat, leaving the head of the man attached only by a few tendons.

Without stopping Aen transposed the weapon from a winged spear to a leaf-headed spear so that it would not get stuck just as before, using his built up momentum Aen drove the spear through the chest of another member who made fruitless attempts to counter Aen's attack.

Aen kicked the man off of the spear's head with his foot and continued his attack on the next person willing to move in.

Stab after stab, and slash after slash found their places in the homes of in the chests and throats of the CFS members that attempted to attack Aen, after long Aen had narrowed it down to only a few men remaining while only taking minimal hits. The remaining men, however, took a more defensive stance than the comrades before them, it appeared that these few men actually had some common sense.

Now that it was down to only a few men though, Aen could clearly see what looked to be the leader of the HQ, who held what looked to be another one of those crossbow-like weapons yet with a bulkier build than the others of their kin, making him Aen's target of interest. Though the few other men remaining also posed threats it was clear they could be taken down with relative ease just as their comrades had been, Aen would have to act fast though lest he wanted his body riddled with whatever the mysterious weapon shot.

Moving forward with lighting speed Aen stabbed his spear towards one of the remaining men, who to Aen's surprise, dodged the attack with a simple quick backstep, though it was a simple dodge Aen found himself surprised that the man was able to survive his deadly attack. Though the man was able to escape the first attack, Aen replicated a smile as he saw an opportunity for an attack he doubted then man would be able to dodge nor predict. Aen rushed forward towards the man holding his shield in front for protection as he charged, the wooden railing behind the man separating him from the floor and the ocean surely would not withstand the force of a human being thrown into it.

With his enhanced strength, Aen checked the man with his side into the wooden railing, smiling as he watched the weak wood give way under the man's weight, allowing him to plummet into the ocean below. With one man down Aen was able to take a moment to see just how many men were left exactly, and to his surprise saw that only two men excluding the leader remained. Interestingly enough though, the leader made no attempt to attack him, only watching, seemingly studying his fighting habits.

Aen had little time to dwell on the prospect though as the two remaining men charged forward together, hoping to overpower him with a combined attack, a technique that had ceased to work yet, why the men even still attempted it, he knew not why. Just as Aen suspected from their predictable fighting style, one swung high whilst the other swung low, a primal but effective technique, however, Aen had avoided the same attack many times and knew just how he would work around it.

Raising his shield to block the high attack, Aen moved his spear with a quick yet powerful flick of his wrist, knocking away the incoming club while the other slid harmlessly of his shield. Yet again taking care of their open states Aen shoulder checked the first one, sending him off balance and swung his spear with zeal towards the legs of the second, cleaving the first leg from the shin down free from his body and embedding into the next. The man screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, his bloodied stump bleeding like a fountain, without wasting a moment however Aen stabbed the first man with a jab through the throat, ending his life.

With proper down time, Aen was able to finally study the form of the leader, who still, curiously enough, did not move to attack. The leader wore an outfit very similar to the other leader of the small group Aen had met outside, a protective leather jacket with hints of chainmail beneath it. The only difference between the between the two officers being that this one was adorned with many more patches on it, signifying that this man was of higher status. What had really irked Aen's interest though was the large bulky crossbow-like weapon he was holding, he was sure that whatever it did, it was something Aen would want to avoid.

Aen was not able to study the man for long though as he was shaken from his thoughts by the leader's gruff voice, "Good Job fella, now tell me. Who sent ya? You one of Roman's boys, If so tell him that he's getting his next shipment soon. Why the hell you guys want those damn rocks though is beyond me" Though the last part was spoken more to himself than to Aen, Aen was able to pick up what he said nonetheless.

Deciding that it would be useful to get some information out of the leader before fighting, Aen decided to talk, "No, whoever this Roman character is, I'll let you know that I have no affiliation with the man, and the rocks you talk about, I haven't a clue what they are." Aen responded. The man seemed surprised that Aen had heard him when he mentioned the rocks, but nonetheless carried on, "So then boy, what is it you want here? Gotta death wish, because I sure will grant it to ya'. T'would be nice to fight someone with skills around here for a change."

"What I want here is not of your concern, unfortunately though, I am going to have to kill you." Aen's response seemed to provoke the man, however the man stayed patient and responded in kind, "Good thing you said that, I wasn't planning on lettin' ya' leave anyways. Let's see how long you last boy."

Without further notice the man raised his weapon towards Aen, catching him off guard, Aen cursed himself for not being closer as he was not within an effective range of attack, the leader had a clear advantage. Seeing no other choice, Aen dropped his shield and summoned fourth an ethereal ball of ice into his hand. In one quick movement, Aen swiped his hand upwards, quickly creating a barrier of magically summoned ice, he just hoped it would withstand whatever was shot his way.

It appeared that Aen had put the wall of ice up just in time, as soon as it had finished it's creation a resounding bang echoed out. Aen's ice barrier had done little to protect him unfortunately as several metal projectiles pierced through the quickly made barrier of ice, hitting him square in the body allowing several of the projectiles to pierce Aen's armor and body, fracturing several bones located all throughout his body.

The force of the shot had knocked Aen onto his back, and Aen watched from his prone position on the ground as the man approached with a malicious smile on his face, "Hah, 50. Cal dust rounds buddy, gonna need to try better than that if you want to stop a shot from my gun!" Without wasting a moment Aen quickly got to his feet, cringing as he heard and felt some of his damaged bones break apart from the sudden movement, luckily nothing essential to his movement had been damaged, he had just hoped he could have them fixed.

As Aen got to his feet another shot from the weapon resounded throughout the base, this time Aen was ready though. As the metal spread-shot flew through the air, Aen dove off of his feet, landing in a roll that allowed him to quickly get back up to his feet and continue with a charge towards the man. Within seconds Aen had closed the distance with his spear hand, though Aen was distraught about the absence of his shield, he was still sure he could work around the inconvenience.

Once Aen closed the distance he thrust a rapid stab towards the chest of the large man. In a display of uncharacteristic nature though, the man dodged the quick attack with an equally fast dodge that Aen had not expected of the man.

With the man once again at a distance from Aen he took the liberty to reveal one of his own tricks. With one flick of his wrist, the bulky front end barrel of his weapon extended out a deceivingly large distance whilst the stock of the weapon extended as well, forming it's shape into that more akin to mace's handle. Aen watched with great interest as the previously small and bulky weapon, transposed into the form of an oversized mace, was this a display of their machinery, as Aesir had referred to it in the mind transfer, or had these new humans discovered the arts of transposition?

Aen had seldom time to ponder on the prospect though, as the man had quickly proceeded to close the distance with his oversized mace, making it clear that he wanted to bash Aen's skull in. If Aen wanted a chance to win this fight though he would need to attack with quick and light movements, the spear would do him no good.

As the man wound up for a crushing attack, Aen waited for the last moment to dodge, and when the mace was just inches above his head, he collapsed in a roll, moving to gain as much distance as possible. When Aen released from his roll he was met with the sight of the man charging in for an attack yet again, Aen took advantage of the attack's slow nature and quickly transposed his sword into the form of a long rapier.

With the rapier in hand, Aen now felt confident in his ability to challenge the man, though Aen no longer held a shield, it only encouraged him furthermore to dodge the block crushing attacks. Aen kept the thoughts of dodging close in his mind as he watched the man's ever so predictable attack begin its movements, the slow movement of the side sweeping attack aimed at Aen's torso was easily dodged with a simple back step that Aen added on to with a lunge forward.

The attack from the lunge had met the man's chest before his attack had even finished its full arc. Yet Aen was met with little results as he watched the powerful stab only stagger the man, as if he wore a suit of armor that could not be seen, shaking the thought from his head though, Aen continued his attack making use of the man's staggered state. Before the man had even a moment to react, two more stabs had found their place in the center of his chest, yet they were met with similar results to the first one.

When Aen's attack had completed, the man jumped back, away from the onslaught of Aen's attacks, and muttered to himself, though it was clear the man had not wanted Aen to here what he said, he still heard it nonetheless, giving Aen some insight on how to defeat him. "Damn, this bastard can cut down a third of my aura with only one combo, I gotta play it careful."

Aura, Aen had vaguely remembered that from Aesir's mind transfer, unfortunately, Aesir had limited knowledge on the peculiar shield, the only existing knowledge that Aesir had that was transferred to Aen was scarce, only mentioning how it blocked unwanted damage from an attacker, without needing to do the work yourself.

Furthermore, judging from what the man had muttered though, it was clear that even the invisible shield of an aura had its limits, and judging how the man sounded distraught about his amount of aura left, it was clear that he was making progress in diminishing his aura, he would just need to continue attacking.

With the new speculations in mind Aen charged forward, hoping to do as much damage as possible, the charge did not go unnoticed by the man though and he made to counter Aen's reckless attack. Once Aen closed the distance between the two he stab his rapier forward towards the chest of the man, unfortunately for Aen, the man had expected the attack towards his chest, and once the tip of the blade came close to the man, he swatted it away with the shaft of his weapon. Using Aen's state of misbalance he charged forward and knocked him back with his shoulder, putting him the perfect distance away for an attack from his weapon.

The man knew he wouldn't be able to get a big swing in, so he instead resorted to quick bash to Aen's helmeted face with the shaft of his oversized mace. Aen felt the shaft connect with his helmet with a large deal of force, had he still had a brain he was sure it would be scrambled, he just hoped that the large dent it produced in his helmet was fixable.

Now realizing that the man was more skilled in close combat than Aen had thought, he decided to change his approach from relentless aggression, to a calm and analytic approach, maybe then he could work around most of his counters and attacks.

After recovering from the attack, Aen stopped, and straightened his posture, the more fluid he could make his movement the more attacks he could land. With that in mind Aen once again approached the leader with slow steps, he wanted him to make the first move, the leader seemed surprised that Aen was still going with a clear lack or aura, nonetheless though he moved in with a large vertical swing.

Taking advantage of the man's slow windups and attacks, Aen pounced forward with his rapier in hand, stabbing the man in the abdomen before he was able to even swing his mace. The quick attack had caught the man off-guard, it was clear he had not expected anyone to be crazy, nor skilled enough to land in and attack on him before he had a moment to even start the swing, and since the attack had caught him so off-guard, he made the mistake of flinching in response, allowing Aen the moments he needed to attack.

Aen followed up his well-timed strike with and equally skillful strike to the man's throat, it appeared that the man's aura was still working though as his attack aimed towards his throat only staggered the man instead of piercing through as Aen had hoped. However, Aen did not let his lack of success discourage him, and continued with one more attack towards the man's chest once again, hoping that it would be enough to lower his aura just enough, and it appeared that was the case as Aen noticed the blood staining the tip of his blade. Though Aen was reinvigorated that he was able to destroy the man's invisible shield, he only realized that the man would go on an all-time defensive, making him much harder to hit.

Aen's successful removal of the man's aura did not go unnoticed by the leader either, as he mumbled a curse to himself in response Aen's attack, further solidifying the fact that Aen had the advantage.

Aen watched as the man quickly back away from him, clutching his abdomen over where the blade had pierced, it was a fruitless action, but yet it brought the man solace. Aen, knowing full well that this man would now be on the defensive, decided to try a seldom used trick he had used only a few times before in the past, though Aen had only used the attack on lesser skilled opponents, he was sure he could pull it off on the now injured leader, Aen doubted he would have the reaction time needed in his injured state to dodge it.

With those thoughts in mind, Aen pounced forward and wound up for an uncharacteristic slash with his rapier that he knew the man would easily back-step away from, that was exactly what Aen had wanted him to do though. Once the man began to dodge the sloppy swing from the rapier, and quickly transposed the rapier into the form of glaive midway through the swing, extending the effective range, and connecting with the man who only made to dodge the rapier, the man was cut across the abdomen with a deadly strike from the glaive, leaving him to drop to his knees a bleeding mess.

Not wanting to prolong the man's life any longer, Aen swung a powerful strike to the nape of the man, severing the man's head from his body in a display of gore. Yet again, Aen let loose a pointless sigh upon completion of the fight, he took no pride in his victory though, the aftermath was certainly not for those faint of heart. Bodies with missing limbs and brutal gashes littered the makeshift flooring of the base, it was not the corpses themselves that unnerved Aen though, rather it was the amount of blood.

Blood stained his armor, weapons, and even some of his bone, the sight was enough to make Aen question whether or not there would have been a way to work around the carnage even though he knew the answer. Aen attempted to shake the discouraging thoughts from his head, but was met with no avail as he navigated his way through the bloody aftermath of the fight, stepping over, and past corpses making sure not to trip over any. Even if Aen had killed another man before, he felt as though he had needed to then, and as much as he attempted to convince himself he had needed to now, he had trouble believing it, did he really have to kill these men?

-S-

Aen found himself yet again lost in thought as he smashed any metal machinery he could with a large mace, it wasn't until he sensed something unordinary that he stopped his methodical smashing to study the strange feeling. Whatever it was that was making Aen's senses run wild, it felt... familiar, yet Aen could not put a name to it. Aen's eyes rested upon a pile of crates on a separate platform than him, and it was then that his senses all but pointed towards them being the source, letting curiosity get the better of him, Aen walked towards the crates, only for a feeling of dread to overcome him as he approached closer.

The feeling did little to dissipate as he came closer to the crates, only strengthening as he came with touching distance of the crates, even with his strengthened will power, he found it hard to resist the urge to turn tail and run, leaving the crates behind. Something inside of Aen sparked though, reinvigorating him with confidence, giving him the willpower he needed to remove the crate's wooden cover.

Aen slowly and carefully slid the crate's cover off, allowing a red glow to wash out from within the crate, what Aen saw only filled him with worry. Inside the wooden crate lied the form of many small corruption stones, corruption stones were of Aen's time, and how the hell rocks found themselves displaced into this time betwixt Aen.

A corruption stone is a special rock found in the depths of hell, that can only be accessed by greater demons, if any human were to make direct contact with rock to their heart, then they would become instantly corrupted, twisting their being into the grotesque form of newly birthed lesser demon. Not only did the rock corrupt the bodies of man, it would also corrupt the minds of man as well, slowly making them lose their sanity till they were naught but senile, this would have explained Aen's previous discouraging thoughts.

While the fact that the men were able to get hold of these rocks was surprising enough, how the men living within the base had not lost their minds yet, was even more curious. No matter though, these rocks could not stay, and if what Aen had heard from the leader was right, then they were smuggling these somewhere to someone named Roman. Whoever this man was, it was clear he may be a clue to finding of Seraphim's whereabouts, if he had access to these rocks, then he must somehow be in contact with Seraphim, why he would these rocks though, Aen hadn't a clue.

Disregarding the thought for now, Aen quickly reached for his disquisition stone, Aesir would need to know of this. Aen laid a finger upon the smooth surface of the two-sided stone and imagined the form of Aesir, not long after he had done so, Aesir's from became visible within the smooth side of the stone. "Aen? What has happened to you, why are you covered in blood?" Aesir's perceptive and curious nature, opted him to question Aen's state before all else, his question was not answered however, as Aen frantically replied, "Later Aesir, what you need concern you now though, is the fact that I have just found some corruptions stones inside of this CFS base. Whoever these guys are it's clear that they are in contact with Seraphim."

Aesir's eyes widened at the mention of corruption stones, and quickly replied hoping to get some information, "Corruption stones?! How many?" Aen quickly looked up to take count of the amount of crates, estimating there to be around ten crates in total, and judging by the large amount of stones in just the one crate he had opened, there was no telling how many more there were, "I'm, not sure exactly Aesir, each crate that they are in, are filled near bursting though, and I count additionally ten crates."

Aesir took a moment to digest the information, thinking on what he should do with the hell rocks, before deciding that disposing of them himself would be the best approach, "Stay where you are Aen, I am coming over to deal with them" Aesir exclaimed much to Aen's disapproval, "Aesir, I don't find it wise that you come here yourself. Whatever you need done, I could do myself, do not take unnecessary risks Aesir!" Aen's suggestions fell upon deaf ears though as he watched Aesir's form fade away on the disquisition stone, shortly after he lost contact with Aesir, a blinding light appeared behind him on the platform.

After the light's flaring gleam died away, Aesir's tall form stood in place of it, "Aesir! Why are you here!? I told you to stay I could take care of it myself!" Aen yelled.

Aesir only ignored Aen's yelling and instead put his focus towards the crates filled with corruption stones, after studying the demonic power emitting from the large amount of crates, Aesir concluded that they were authentic, though he trusted Aen to tell him the truth, he took extra precautions just to make sure, "You need not worry Aen." Aesir reassured Aen, "These need to be destroyed in a particular way for them to pose no threat" Aen watched as Aesir extended a pale hand towards the crate of corruption stones, a simple dispel cast would do the trick to rendering the stones harmless, but Aesir strained to extend the dispel cast across all the crates, a spell such as dispel was not meant for more than one target, making Aesir's job harder.

After a short period of time filled with a glow of holy magic Aen watched the stones loose their red glow, the brightness of the rocks dimmed to but a soft glow, not noticeable to the naked eye. With the demonic power within the rocks absent, Aesir next cast an implosion spell and watched as the rocks all shattered to pieces before his eyes, whisking away into the wind as harmless dust.

Aesir turned to Aen releasing a sigh of relief, "Now then, with those rocks gone, tell me. Do you know why they are here?" Aen shook his head as a sign of no, but he still took care to let Aesir know what little he knew about the rocks' presence, "Sadly, I do not know why it is these men need these rocks, but what I do know, is that they were planning to ship them off to someone who goes by the name of Roman. If I were to wager a guess, I would have to say that this Roman character is somehow in contact with Seraphim."

Aesir processed the information and came to the conclusion that what Aen said would make sense, "That it is logical, I propose that you ask that boy, or perhaps the sailor about Roman, hopefully they would know something about him. I would make it your next move once you gather allies to seek out this man, he could lead you right to Seraphim. I just worry what they will do with those stones" Aen made note of what Aesir had to say and addressed another issue to Aesir.

"I am sure you have noticed Aesir, but my armor is in dire need of repairing. I had a fight with the leader of this base and he was able to catch me off guard with his strange form shifting weapon, I also fear the damage it had done to my body, I felt several ribs shift in a way they shouldn't when I moved." While Aesir had listened fully to what Aen had said, his attention was drawn more towards the mention of a form shifting weapon, he had observed the peculiar shifting weapons for a short while whilst Aen was within the abyss, his knowledge on them was little though, A working weapon fully intact from this time would be every so helpful in his research of his time.

"A form shifting weapon you say? By any chance is it still intact, though I am no master smith such as Balder, I would love to research it all the same. Perhaps I may even be able to create a weapon akin to it for you." Whilst Aen was surprised that Aesir had quickly disregarded the main focus of hunting down Seraphim so easily, he was not fully discouraged because of it, a new weapon, especially as powerful as the leader's was always welcomed. "I believe it is still intact, I'll show you to it" Aen said whilst leading Aesir past the myriad of dead bodies. While Aen was scouring the bloody corpses for the weapon he decided to ask Aesir a question that had bothered him since he had arrived at the HQ, "Aesir if you do not mind my inquiries, then why is it that you are so desensitized to these gory sights?" Aen asked Aesir out of the blue. Aesir only smirked in response before enlightening Aen to why the gore did not bother him, "When you are a god you tend to observe a lot of death, especially when you can watching over all you humans."

Aen had thought the answer sufficient enough, but there was one thing about Aesir's response that stood out to Aen, "Wait, you can actually watch over us, as if you were there with us? I always thought that to be hollow words of devout worshippers." While Aesir had not expected the question from Aen he answered nonetheless with a smile on his face, "Of course we can see you all Aen, The palace in Elysium has an observatory room meant for watching over you all, how else did you think I learned about this new time. Of course, I was not always within the room watching, but when I was present I could observe all that I wanted."

The answer was somewhat unsettling to Aen, he had always known that the gods had some way of keeping track of everything, yet he had not expected them to be able to actually 'see' what was going on. Aen's disturbed train of thought was interrupted yet again by Aesir's voice, "Do not worry though, I know my boundaries. When someone wants privacy I know." Aen would have wanted to respond with a full sentence, but all he had said in response was, "Good."

Shortly after saying said words though, Aen had found the corpse of the leader with the weapon nearby, he hefted it into his hand and admired the craftsmanship that was put into making the weapon, it was truly a remarkable and bizarre weapon. Designs and decals ran along the shaft of the oversized mace, and Aen could clearly see many mechanical parts adorning the sides, this was most likely what allowed the weapon to charge forms at the user's will, while it still didn't hold a candle to Aen's blade and it's limitless transpositions, it was the part that shot the metal projectiles that Aen marveled over the most, had he one of those, fighting would be much easier.

After Aen's brief inspection of the weapon was complete, he handed the transformable weapon over towards Aesir who promptly thanked him, he hoped Aesir would be able to make one of those projectile shooting weapons. Once the oversized mace was in Aesir's hands he too made his own brief inspections before holding it down at his side, he then faced towards Aen, reminding him of what he had to do before leaving. "Remember Aen, find that Roman man and track him down, whilst I wouldn't be against you doing it on your own, preferably you should make allies and find a place to house."

Nodding his head in confirmation, Aen bid his farewells to Aesir before watching him pull forth a lamp identical to his own, and peered into the light, disappearing in a flash of bright light, when the light cleared Aen was only greeted with the sight of the multiple dead bodies. Aen approached the ladder and climbed out of the HQ, hopefully no-one would find the dead bodies within the base soon, though it was inevitable.

-S-

By the time Aen had returned to the docks the sun was just cresting the horizon, he was delighted to see that he had made it back within a reasonable time, nor Danny or Rex would have to worry about him now. Unfortunately, it had completely slipped Aen's mind to ask Aesir to clean his armor, so to avoid suspicion, he had visited the waterfront before returning, and washed the blood free from his armor, the holes, however, he could not fix. Luckily the holes were far too small for anyone to see through, no one would be seeing his damaged skeletal form, the holes were a minor nuisance though, whenever he had the chance he would return to Elysium to fix his armor.

Aen made the assumption he would find Rex and Danny at the boat, and when he arrived near the boat his assumption was made fact. Danny waved a hand to Aen from a distance, even from where Aen stood far away from the boat, he could still see the wide smile that covered the boy's face. Soon after Danny had finished waving, Aen watched as he yelled back towards the boat, presumably waking Rex from his slumber.

Once Aen closed the distance between him and the boat Rex came fourth from the cabin of the small charter, once Rex caught sight of Aen, his eyes widened with surprise, it was clear Rex had not expected Aen to return, he had probably given him up for dead. Rex stepped off the boat and onto the docks, moving forward to great Aen, once he was close he stopped and looked Aen up and down, inspecting the damage done to his armor, "What the hell happened to you?"

Though it could hardly be considered a greeting, Aen ignored it nonetheless and responded in kind, "That HQ was full of people, not anymore though." It was at this statement that Rex's eyes widened as realization struck him, "Your kidding." He responded.

Not wanting to misplace Rex's trust, Aen told him truthfully what had happened, "I took down the base, not a soul is left." While Rex still showed signs of disbelief, he trusted Aen enough to take his word for it, there was just one thing he was curious about, "How the hell did you find it, I hadn't the slightest clue where it could be." Before responding, Aen looked around and spotted a few stray dock hand about, for the most part though, the docks were vacant beside them, most of the men must be asleep or out at sea.

Deeming it safe to respond now that Aen knew there was no-one around to eavesdrop, he answered Rex's question, "I encountered a patrol out at night and, 'questioned' their leader for information." Aen's deadpan response had taken Rex off-guard, but he shook it off, opting not ask anymore questions for fear of discovering the gory truth of what happened.

Rex sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to think before opening his eyes once again to speak to Aen, "I guess you've earned your trip then..."

 **~S~**

 **Holy Shit, that took me far too long to write and I apologize sincerely for keeping all of you waiting. I don't really have much of an excuse for not writing though, I guess I just really wanted to enjoy summer while it lasted. Anyhow, now that school is back on, you can expect some more updates since I'll be in the writing feel, finding motivation to write during the summer is hard...**

 **As usual, feel free to review the chapter or leave a weapon suggestion, I'll do my best to fix up any mistakes I have made. Thank you so much for reading and supporting my story everyone, I'll be going back and revising the first chapter though, so I would suggest re-reading it, I won't be changing anything story wise, but I will brush up on some things with more detail. Stay Toasty**

 **\- From, Loasty of the Toasty**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Homecoming

With a leering gaze, Aen gently prodded at his fractured sternum with gentle pokes, he had forgone his breastplate earlier in the night so that he could assess the damage that had been done to him during his fight with the CFS leader. He had made sure that both Danny and Rex had retired to the lower deck of the small charter boat, as Rex referred to it, before removing his breastplate, he did not wish to reveal his skeletal form to Danny nor Rex yet, or ever for that matter.

Shortly after Aen had returned from the CFS base Rex had agreed to sail Aen to Vale, and they agreed to wait for the night to begin their sailing. When the shattered moon was high and the stars made themselves known, the three set sail, quietly sailing past a blockade of Vacuo police boats unnoticed. Before long the three were out on the open ocean, with only small amounts of provisions, and their wits.

Thankfully, Rex had not caught on to the fact that Aen had not been eating, had he noticed the aforementioned fact, Aen was unsure what he would say. So rather than refusing to accept the food, he would take it, and toss it into the water when the two were not looking, saying that he had eaten it, he felt devious doing it, his father would have berated him for hours had he known he was wasting these mens' food.

Aen continued his gentle assessing pokes, making sure to take note of any damage done to his tainted body that could prove to be critical to his body's movement. Luckily he had found little in the way of discrepancies, the only damage he had taken note of was his fractured sternum, and loose ribs.

In the center of his sternum, a large crack made itself home, Aen could only guess it to be from the weapon that shot the metal projectiles. It was his ribs that worried him more however; his first rib had been completely severed by the blast, and his second wobbled loosely upon being touched. Though the damage was worrying, Aen was sure that it would not prove to hinder his abilities in combat, he would still have to remember to ask Aesir to fix his damaged state had he the chance to ask however, but for now, it was not his highest concern.

What currently plagued his mind, was this 'Roman' character, whether it was nickname, or a full name though, Aen did not know. Whoever this man was, clearly was in contact with Seraphim, why else would he need or want those corruption stones, what good could they bring him? No man would willingly request a corruption stone be mailed to them had they known what it could to a human body and soul, which brought upon the idea that he was just a smaller player in a bigger pyramid scheme, that was just brainwashed to do the higher-ups' biddings. The question Aen wanted answered however, was who those higher-ups were, if this man was part of a larger pyramid scheme, then he was only a small part of Aen's search for Seraphim. Nonetheless though, the man was a lead, and Aen would take any lead he could get.

Aen was pulled from his thinking as usual, once he heard the sound of light footfalls coming from the below decks of the charter. Not wanting his skeletal form to be discovered, Aen quickly strapped his breastplate back into position, tying the leather straps together with expert movements, learned from his many years of traveling.

From where Aen sat on the bow of the boat he watched as the small form of Danny exited the boat's lower deck. From the looks of it, it was clear Danny had not recognized Aen's presence.

Aen watched as Danny sat down on the cushioned seat of the boat's exterior chairs, exhaling a long sigh as he did so. Aen only watched as the boy hunched over from his seated position in the chair, and ruffled his brown hair around with his palms, as if he was trying to wake himself, or clear his mind. Whether Aen's assumptions were right or not about him clearing his mind though, he disregarded them for now, instead opting to approach the young boy.

Allowing his curiosity to get the better of him, Aen approached with quiet footfalls, or as quiet as armored footfalls could be. Aen made sure he was cautious when sidling across the narrow side of the boat's exterior, making sure not to fall into the assumedly cold water below, whether or not bones floated, Aen did not know, and he would have preferred to not know. The last thing he wanted was to succumb to a watery grave.

As Aen approached Danny from behind, he found himself surprised when Danny had not acknowledged his presence, surely he would have heard him approach in his weighty armor, or was he too absorbed in thought to comprehend Aen's presence. With a gentle tap on Danny's shoulder, Aen had successfully woken the boy from whatever trance he had succumbed to, as he had jumped in his seat, releasing a quiet yelp in the process.

The young boy prominently expressed his surprise at being snuck up on by immediately turning towards Aen and berating him for sneaking up on him, "Aen! Dammit, you scared the hell out of me." Whatever trance that had captured Danny earlier was promptly disregarded as Danny clearly stood on edge now, perhaps it was a trained response, or he was attempting to stay vigilant to avoid any further embarrassment from being snuck up on.

Aen quickly expressed his apologies for sneaking up on him, but was still curious as to why he was out on the boat's deck in the dead of the night. "I apologize to have startled you, but, what is that you are doing out here. Get some rest while you can, Rex will surely have you working the decks tomorrow, we still much distance left to cover" Aen's questioning was met with no fruition however, as Danny had taken to studying the wooden deck of the boat rather than answering Aen.

Aen was quickly able to connect the dots between his first encounter with Danny, and all he knew of the boy's past, eventually coming to the conclusion that Danny was being plagued by nightmares of his past. "Can't sleep?" Aen inquired, making sure to make his tone as welcoming as possible for the young boy.

Danny remained silent for a short while, seemingly contemplating whether or not he should tell Aen what he was thinking, however, it seemed his internal arguing had come to an end, as he had answered the question, albeit with a short response. "Yeah, it's hard to sleep on a boat."

Though Danny had thought his bluff sufficient, Aen had caught onto his lie, Aen knew he was not telling the full truth. Not wanting Danny to hold back possibly harmful thoughts to his mental health, Aen decided to call him out on his lie.

"Danny, I know you deceit. Holding back whatever it is that is causing you such distress is unhealthy for your mind and soul. Trust me when I say you can converse with me" Aen had seemingly done an exceptional job of convincing Danny to speak, within moments of Aen's statement, Danny had allowed himself to be persuaded into talking.

"Fine, I-It's just..." Danny released an annoyed groan at his own inability to phrase his sentence as he had wanted it. Not wanting Danny to become more stressed than he already was, Aen spared a reassuring glance as well his glowing eyes would allow, hopefully, it would be enough to coax Danny into speaking his mind freely.

Aen's attempts at reassurance seemed not to have been fruitless as Aen watched Danny slowly inhale and exhale in an attempt to gather his train of thought.

"I-It's, those people Aen. Them, the CFS, everything they made me do. Their faces still haunt me.." The last of Danny's sentence was spoken just above a whisper; his clenched fists clearly showing his resentment towards the CFS.

Aen processed what Danny had to say, pushing his mind to comprehend a comforting response to Danny's anger filled statement.

"I see" Aen responded, "The men you had to kill, they haunt your dreams do they?"

What Aen had said appeared to have struck Danny the wrong way however. He lashed back at Aen with a resentful response, "It's not like I wanted to!" He yelled "They made me Aen! They made me an animal!" He lashed through clenched teeth.

Aen stood beside Danny with a solemn gaze, and before speaking took a seat in the adjacent chair next to Danny's rage filled form.

"Danny, when you come down to it, man's nature, is brutish" He began.

"Though you may think yourself an animal, know above all else that it is reason, that sets a man apart from a beast. A man reasons, and an animal does not." He stated calmly

"If a man crosses a shepard's field ripe with sheep, starving and dying, and his only hope for salvation be the sheep's meat" Aen stated phlegmatically.

"Then he would seize the opportunity, but not before thinking of what would become of the shepard, he would stop, and think. He would think what would happen if he killed that shepard's sheep, he would consider the repercussions." He once again stated, with a more anger filled tone than before.

"Perhaps he would consider all of this after having killed the sheep for its meat, but he still considers it, whether or not he cares for the shepard" He continued.

"An animal on the other hand, they are different. An animal does what it's instincts tell it to do, it does not consider the shepard, or his lively-hood. An animal does not reason with its consciousness, nor does it think of the repercussions. An animal follows exactly what it's instincts tell it to do, it never thinks of the shepard" Upon finishing, Aen leaned in closer, glaring with his glowing orbs.

"Now tell me Danny, do you still hold reason within your being. Or have you allowed yourself to succumb to your instincts? From what you say, I'm sure you haven't" Aen finished his sentence on an assertive note, glaring at Danny with squinted orbs.

Any anger that had previously been in Danny's body, immediately left upon Aen's closing remark. His clenched teeth slacked, and his balled hands released, all while he released a slow exhalation, it was clear some rage still filled his being, but it was slowly dissipating as each second passed with them in silence.

It was long before either of the two spoke, only staring at the ocean's salty water, both taking a moment to allow what Aen said to be digested. After a long time of admiring the stars' reflection in the water, it was Danny that had taken the initiative to speak after the sedate silence had overstayed it's welcome.

"I... I'm sorry" He said quietly, while averting eye contact with Aen's eerily glowing orbs.

"No" Aen stated bluntly.

The confusion was clear on Danny's youthful face as he questioned Aen's response, "What do you mean, No. It was my fault I didn't mean-"

"Stop," Aen said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Don't deprecate yourself Danny" He said shortly after interrupting his statement.

"You think yourself responsible for the death of those men and women, that you had unwillingly killed, but that is not the case" Aen began once again.

"Whilst many would title you the murderer in your situation, it is only the people pointing an accusing finger towards a person they would wish to see jailed for their own avaricious needs" Aen stated.

"When people are faced with a prospect they don't understand nor like, they immediately turn against each other, accusing one another of things of petty value. I'm sure that you were given much hate by the people, as they surely pointed to you as the one to blame, but know that it is not you who is to be blamed, you were only following orders, albeit with much regret."

"The people should be pointing their fingers to the real animals up top, the leaders who order you and many others around, they are the true animals. They have lost all their reason in a wild pursuit of greed, whereas you, Danny. You have kept your reason, you are no animal, no matter how much you refuse to believe what I tell you"

Danny was speechless, what could he say, how Aen had caught on to his disbelief of his statement so quickly it had caught Danny off-guard.

Rather than trying to deprecate himself anymore, Danny listened to what Aen had said, and smiled a somber simper, he would no longer think of himself as an animal, for how could that help.

"Thank you." Danny said, "I, needed that."

Rather than responding with words, Aen nodded with silent resolve.

Danny nodded in return, and stood from his cushioned chair, causing a creak in the deck boards and a squeak of the chair as he retired to the lower deck with quiet footfalls.

Aen did not follow Danny's example in returning to the lower decks and instead stayed seated in his chair, attempting to collect his boggled thoughts. As per usual Aen had little time to think before he was called forth from his mind by the voice of another person, in this case it was Rex standing behind him with his arms crossed and an appraising smile which hugged his white beard.

"Thanks for that, I knew somethin' was up with the lad, but I didn't know how to approach him about it. You're takin' care of him better than I ever did." Rex stated with clear approval of Aen's behavior.

"He has lived a troubled life, and I know he will not be able to come to terms with what he has done. Even further showing his good intentions." Aen responded

Rex chuckled quietly to himself with a shake of his head, saying, "Look buddy, You seem to be a lot more chivalrous than me, I'll stick to the sailing for now, and you make sure the kid's doing okay. Deal?" Rex held his hand out with a grin.

Gladly accepting Rex's deal, Aen stood and grabbed his hand with his own armored one, giving him a firm shake, "Deal"

-S-

" _I couldn't possibly give you a hand's worth of ginseng! What do you take me for, a jester!?" Aen screeched, though the local apothecary was kind woman she ran a pricey deal, far too pricey for Aen._

 _"Look boy, these brews are not made easily. I ain't a witch and I've no desire to stoop to their levels of depravity just to help you!" The bold apothecary retorted. "I run an honest business that I work hard to keep afloat, and I ain't about to make an exception for a snot nosed brat!" She finished with a scowl._

 _"Fine!" Aen bellowed."If you're not gonna help, then I'll do the work myself! What kind of apothecary are you anyway, aren't your kind supposed to help people, not purloin them of their money!" With an angry stride, Aen exited the apothecary's residence with a slam of the oak door, shaking the abode's structure, threatening to knock a myriad of concoctions from their places on the many shelves of the store's interior._

 _Without a returning glance, Aen walked alongside the dirt thoroughfare, kicking a pebble or two with an angry sweep of his foot. Though Aen knew that the apothecary had it's hands full, it did little to mend his fleeting temper, the complete disregard for the safety of the people enraged Aen to no end. Why had the Baron_ repealed _his knights, surely he could use them to distribute ailments for the sickly people rather than sit on his rump and drink his fancy imported wine, leaving only the local apothecary's and practitioners to deal with the ever spreading disease._

 _Trying not to lose the last of his temper Aen continued down the dirt roadway following it towards his homestead._

 _Before long, Aen had found himself back at his farmstead, standing in the lower fields of the expansive, yet not overly large croplands. Wading through the large stalks of corn, Aen sent a furtive glance towards the small plot of their homegrown ginseng roots, only helping to bolster his already sullen mood._

 _Had that lady not requested so much ginseng, Aen would not have minded the avaricious request, yet she had requested over half of their already paltry garden, the request was outright heresy. At least in Aen's juvenile mind._

 _Being careful not to create a disturbance, Aen opened the wooden door of his home, only for it to whine in protest as its hinges yearned for a lubricant. Aen entered into the empty dining room, passing the scullery as he made his way down the hallway towards the room of his parents._

 _As he walked, the hallway seemed to stretch itself, making each step he took more and more labored as he feared what he would come to behind the door. Before the hallway could strain itself any further with its imaginative stretching, it snapped back like the string of a hunter's bow trained on a sole target, wishing to take its life._

 _The door creaked open with a methodical whine, revealing to Aen the figure of his father with a sullen gaze on his averted eyes. Aen's father quickly became aware of Aen's presence, and the storm clouds that blurred his emotions seemed to disperse at the sight of his young son._

 _"Do you have it?" Aen's father questioned frantically, with a sense of urgency only a man in peril would evoke._

 _Fearing to return the storm clouds to their place around his father's emotions, Aen answered with a voice barely above a whisper, "No, she pleaded a price too high for us"_

 _Much to Aen's dismay, his father responded with a perturbed tone, asking him to speak again with a much louder tone. Aen complied with the request, allowing his previous anger to resurface as he talked, "She wanted half of the goddamn ginseng garden! That greedy bitch probably didn't even need that much"_

 _"Aen!" Aen's father outraged, "I will not tolerate that attitude in this house while your mother is sick, the atmosphere is already dampened enough!" Aen's father did not stop his belittling at that statement however, and continued his yelling, "You need to learn some respect Aen! If you can't control your temper than you can't expect to make it far." He yelled._

 _"So what if she needed half the garden, the traders don't come_ round _anymore in these times, we wouldn't need to sell them anyway!" Aen's father released an angered snarl and closed his eyes, presumably in an attempt to calm himself._

 _It was clear Aen hadn't taken much of a liking to yelling either as his once adrenaline fueled body now stood an empty husk with a distraught expression plaster over its face. Aen knowingly began his apology but was cut short by his father before he could even begin to express his long winded sorry._

 _"Don't. Don't say you're sorry." Aen's father opened his eyes and released a sigh of disappointment, "I understand that your rage overtook you, looks like you've got a little bit of me in you, I just hope it's not more than half your being. I take it you're not wanted back in the store?" Aen's father said in a matter of fact tone, if disappointment was tangible Aen would surely be grasping at it right now._

 _"How is mom doing?" Aen asked sullenly trying to pry his father away from the subject of the ginseng._

 _"Had you gotten that medicine, I'm sure she would be doin' a lot better off than she is now." Aen's father said dejectedly, quickly pulling Aen back towards his slip up with the apothecary._

 _Aen did not respond to his father's direct insult and instead, cast his gaze towards the floorboards trying to remove himself from the angered gaze of his father. His attempts were to little avail however as his father quickly pulled his attention back towards the topic at hand with a sigh, "We're going back to the town, your mother needs that medicine if she wishes to survive the upcoming winter"_

 _Rather than objecting to his father's demands, Aen followed in suit after his father, not wishing misfortune upon himself if he were to directly disobey his father._

 _The two exited the farmstead, allowing the chilled autumn weather to briefly intrude the house containing a solitary member, one that clung to life with stubborn and calloused hands._

 _Aen and his father had not made it far from their homestead however, only moving several feet outside the door before Aen's father stopped his temporarily inattentive son with a burly arm. Aen was quickly snapped free from his saddened_ daze _once he was stopped by his father, taking the moment to locate what it was that was holding up his father._

 _After an extremely brief sweep of the surrounding area with his eyes, Aen took notice of a rustling in the dense corn fields before their house, which his father had taken notice to as well._

 _Before Aen or his father had a chance to express their confusion, the rustling quickly encroached on them, the tall corn stalks giving way to an immense armored figure carrying an equally large single headed axe with a serrated edge that was painful to even look at._

 _Aen froze in his place knowing full well what had just walked into his front yard._

 _'Impossible' he thought 'It couldn't possibly be happening again.' Aen had little a chance to process the situation fully before his father harshly shoved him back yelling for him to get in the house._

 _With a solitary glance back, Aen bolted to the doors of his house slamming the door behind him. He knew his father wouldn't dare fight the hell spawn head on, only distract it, and Aen knew full well his father couldn't dream of beating the beast without a proper weapon._

 _Without a second thought, Aen pulled a mounted sword from the wall with reckless abandon, only hoping to get the sword to his father fast enough. He knew he was too slow though when he heard the sound of blade meeting flesh._

 _Aen stopped in his place, allowing terror to fully consume his being, he even stood still when the door was smashed open by the oversized knight as if it was made of twigs. He watched, petrified, as the sooty figure of the armored hell spawn walked into his front room, axe freshly stained with hot dripping blood, forever staining the floor, and Aen's memories._

Aen's eyes quickly shot open with an accompanying sharp inhalation of an ineffectual breath, allowing him to take in the view of the ocean before him from his place on the bow. The unpleasant memory was beyond distasteful, and Aen was quick to begin attempting to purge the very memory from his conscious; however, his attempts to purge the horrid memory from his mind were met with no success.

It was this memory that evoked yet another memory, what he had said to Danny when they had first made acquaintance in the sewers of Vacuo. "I cannot relate with your story..."

Though Aen knew it was clearly a lie, he felt no need to burden the boy with sad thoughts of his past. His quick-witted pep talk probably did little to ease the boy's worries to begin with, and it would do him no good to hold even more depressing thoughts in his being. Aen could tell that the boy was in a rough place, and Aen could, in fact, relate with that, albeit only in some aspects. Whereas Danny had never seen his parents to begin with, Aen had-

"Aen!"

Aen was quickly shaken from his unpleasant train of thought by the sound of Rex's undefinable accented voice, "Get off the bow will ya' I can't see anything!

Aen stood from his seated position on the bow, it was clear he had once again lost track of time during his silent meditation. Rather than conversing or trying to imitate sleep, Aen had taken to silent meditation and had found it a rather effective way of passing the time.

Aen carefully made his way round onto the deck of the boat and seated himself in one of the comfy seats he had sat in when conversing with Danny a few nights prior. The days of traveling felt long, and little to nothing would occur each day, up until Aen had adopted the idea of meditation the days had seemed even longer, painstakingly so.

"Do you sleep on the bow of the damn ship now or something?" Rex questioned passively, although his projection may have seemed contrary.

"No, I do find myself relaxing up there at times however, the ocean makes for relaxing scenery" Aen half lied in his own passive tone, and continued his talking once he took note of the daylight, or lack of therefore.

"Why are you up so early? Any particular reason to it?" Aen inquired. Their traveling days usually began once the sun started to crest the horizon, yet the moon still found itself present in the lower ends of the sky as of today.

"Yeah," Rex replied promptly, "I'd say that, about by noon today we'll be making landfall." He said, then pursed his lips before continuing. "There's only one problem though."

"And what would that be?" Aen questioned. He knew that they wouldn't exactly be let right into the city, but he was certain that Rex would have found a way around it somehow, he was a man that knew workarounds, surely he would have one for this.

"Well, as you probably know by now." He began. "We aren't exactly entering, 'legally' and because of that we can't just waltz right on into the docks"

"So what I've got in mind is this." He began once again, Aen only hoped that whatever the older man had in mind would not be completely outrageous.

The older man then began his explanation of how the three were to enter the city, "Since we can't use the docks to enter, we're gonna' have to land somewhere outside the city. It's gonna be dangerous though, we'll be in enemy territory so to speak, I'm sure we won't have any run-ins with the Grimm though, they tend to stay pretty far away from the main walls." The smuggler surveyed his surroundings seemingly trying to get an idea of where they need to be going, before continuing.

"I know a faunas that works one of the illegal entrances us smugglers have created, he usually helps me smuggle things, he'll let us through. From there you can choose to stay with us or go your own way."

Aen ran the plan through his head several times looking for any flaws, but found none. Rex seemed to have thought the plan through pretty well, or perhaps, this was just normal procedure for the smuggler, nonetheless though Aen thought the plan viable, and offered his insight on his fate to Rex.

"Though I will need to part ways with you, I do not wish to excommunicate myself. I have things I must attend to on my own time, but I would like to stay in contact with you, it would be beneficial to the boy's mental health if I stayed." Aen stated, Rex proved himself to be a valuable ally for Aen, and on top of that, welcoming. It would be wasteful to disregard him, he seemed to have a lot of connections, he could be a wealth of knowledge Aen thought.

"Good thing you want to stay in contact" Rex responded lightheartedly, "I think that we are both equally useful to each other" Rex continued.

"Agreed," Aen said, there was one catch however, Aen planned on parting ways with the two shortly after his entrance into the city, but how he would be able to contact the two proved itself to be an obstacle. Aen expressed his dilemma to Rex, hoping to receive some help from the man, who better to turn to than a man with many connections.

"Only problem is that I don't know how I would be able to contact you, care to provide some assistance in that field?" Aen inquired, hoping he would receive a viable option of communication.

"I've got you covered on that one, just contact me on your scroll whenever you need to talk, don't worry I've got mine secured, no one can listen in on our conversations." The man replied, confusing Aen with his foreign talk.

Scroll? Aen racked his mind for any mention of a scroll, but was met with naught, had Aesir not had any knowledge on the subject? However, Aen was sure that the 'scroll' Rex talked about was nothing like what Aen was picturing in his head.

"Scroll?" Aen repeated his thoughts to Rex, he just hoped that whatever this 'scroll' was, was not common knowledge, lest he run the risk of revealing his true self, the fact that the man had not asked him to remove his helmet was already lucky enough for Aen.

"What the hell are you talking about kid? You don't got one?" Aen's mind ran frantically for a response, clearly he should have dropped the subject matter, now he only made himself seem more suspicious that he already was, hopefully, Rex wouldn't dwell too much on the topic.

"Oh, no unfortunately I do not possess one as of now. I, lost mine." Though the lie was shoddily put together it seemed it was sufficient enough for Rex, and Aen released a mental sigh allowing himself to relax now that he knew he had successfully averted the question.

"Ah whatever, I guess we'll do it the old fashioned way then. We'll worry about that bridge when we get to it though." Rex exclaimed further easing Aen's tense nerves.

"Yes, that would be much preferable, I operate better that way." Aen agreed.

"Good to hear it." Rex responded rather dejectedly, either he was upset at Aen's lack of a scroll or he was generally uncaring about the whole situation anyway.

"You'd best wake the boy, sun's rising soon." Rex continued

Aen glanced towards the symbol of clairvoyance that was the shattered moon, and took note of how it hung low in the sky, suspended only by the most willing servants of the night. He gave a nod to Rex and entered into the cabin of their boat, choosing to wake the young boy from his sleep.

The more they could tell the boy about the plan before they initiated it, the better.

-S-

"Aen, toss the anchor! It should be latched on the side, careful it's heavy!" Rex shouted. Shortly after Aen had wakened Danny, Rex ran him through his plan and Danny nodded his head with a laborious sense of tiredness. Whether or not Danny had processed the plan in his still sleeping mind or not, was a mystery, Aen had just hoped the boy had gotten the gist of it. Though it was to no extent an overly complicated plan, Aen still hoped the boy knew what he had to do, having a member that knew not what to do, would only harm them. Aen trusted the boy to understand what was happening before long though.

"Got it!" Aen moved from his spot on the bow and with careful strides he approached the side of the bow, and leaned his helmeted skull over. Aen caught sigh to of the fairly sized anchor, and yanked it up over the edge of the boat, anchor and it's coiled rope appendage, in tow.

With relative ease, Aen tossed the anchor over the front of the boat where it found itself stuck in the dirt of the land in front of them.

Almost exactly to Rex's predicted time, the three had arrived. It appeared Aen was not the only one glad to see the sigh after however many days of traveling it had taken them, Aen didn't pay much mind to the passage of time during the trip, he just hoped the arrival would have been soon.

With a smile, Danny ran towards the bow of the boat, eager to step foot back on land again, "Finally! It feels so good to be off that damn boat!" Danny shouted once he had jumped ashore.

Aen shared his sentiments, and jumped off the boat quickly after Danny had done so. Aen released a sigh of relief that held no point other than for expression upon his armored feet landing on the soft ground of the dense forest that sat in front of them. According to what Rex had told him, they had not come ashore far from the city, they were in a "purgatory of sorts" as Rex had put it, Aen shivered at the mention of purgatory.

They were in a no mans' land, Aen would have preferred to phrase it, regardless, where they were was a spot just out of sight of the Vale authorities, but just close enough to be far away from the Grimm, a truly excellent spot to make landfall.

Following in the other's stead Rex hopped off the put with a coiled rope in his hand, similar to the one holding the anchor. Rex lead the rope which Aen had just noticed was, tied to the cleat of the boat, towards a large tree that sat just in front of their boat.

Rex tied the rope firmly round the tree's trunk, giving it a pull of assurance, before turning to Aen and asking, "Ready?"

Aen nodded his confirmations, and followed in Rex's lead, presumably towards the city, Aen felt relieved yet wary at the same time.

Relieved, because he had finally reached where he had needed to be from the start, and wary because he didn't know what to expect or where to begin. It dawned on Aen then that this was only a minor step forward, he still had much to do, and was only now truly beginning his journey. Aen felt an overwhelming feeling of deja-vu.

-S-

"Do you think we can go see the vytal festival, I heard that Pyrrha Nikos is going to be competing again, you think she'll win again?" Danny asked excitedly, during their walk the boy had not let himself catch his breath, his talking was consistent, never ceasing, clearly he was excited.

"Well, it's still a bit until that goes live, but I do think that Pyrrha girl is gonna win again, there's no doubt about that one." Rex responded, although sounding more interesting this time. Beforehand Rex had responded to Danny's constant barrage of questions with quick few worded responses, however, this time he seemed to be generally more interested, and so this caught Aen's attention.

Similar to the mention of scrolls, Aen hadn't the slightest clue what the Vytal festival was, and in turn, meaning Aesir had much-limited knowledge on the subject matter. He felt it warranted questioning, but he still worried that his guise would be even more weakened if he questioned the matter, but nonetheless, he did.

"Vytal festival, I haven't heard it's mention, is it anything important?" Aen questioned cautiously,

Rex responded with a dumbfounded look, and Danny immediately erupted, "Look, I get the fact that you come from outside the walls, but there's no way you haven't heard of the Vytal festival!" Danny yelled.

So it was important, Aen would just have to play up his lie if he wanted to wriggle his way out of the hole he had just dug himself into. "I'm sorry, I was very disconnected from the inside world. Do you mind shedding some light on the matter." Aen pleaded.

With much annoyance showing, Danny proceeded to explain whatever this Vytal festival was. "The best huntsman and huntresses from all around the world gather to challenge each other and test their skills in a tournament. Only the best can attend these battles, and because of that, it makes for some of the best fights you've ever seen!"

Though the explanation was not the long winded one he was expecting from the boy, it was still sufficient enough for him to perceive the fact that this would be an excellent recruiting opportunity, how he would go about recruiting people to his cause was beyond him though. He couldn't just approach and ask them to help him fight a Demon, that was far too straightforward, he supposed he could just scout for now, perhaps spot a few allies, this Pyrrha fellow sounded like a prime target.

"Sounds like it would be a fun experience, I'd love to watch" Aen half lied, though he held no interest in the festival itself, he still held interest in the idea of possibly meeting new fighters. He only knew two people in this new time, and even then he had only met them a short while ago, though Rex proved himself to be useful, Danny did not show nearly as much usefulness as Rex, aside from him leading him to Rex. Other than that though Danny never demonstrated much usefulness, though it was shallow thinking it was the truth, Aen would never abandon the child purely because he didn't demonstrate usefulness however.

Danny was good for morale's sake, Aen concluded, he certainly was calming to have nearby, and how the boy was able to express such happiness even though Aen knew his mind was a shattered mess, was a complete mystery. It was commendable how he was able to trudge on with his inner clock working in shambles.

"I say we go see it when it comes to town then, what do you say Rex?" Danny inquired rather excitedly.

"I guess so." Rex responded phlegmatically. Stopping to recruit some allies couldn't harmful, Aen had thought to himself, before then however, Aen would have to focus his efforts to finding a way into Beacon academy, this would be the best place to begin his search for Roman.

Though it may not seem it to be the best place to begin, Aen had deemed it so, he hadn't really realized up until now how mindlessly he was carrying on. He knew he had to get to Beacon, but what then, of course, he knew that he was to look for people to help, but how would he do that, go to the headmaster perhaps?

Aen decided that he would cross that bridge when he reached it, and continue on with the same mindless obedience he was doing now, it hadn't betrayed his trust just yet, so he had reason to trust it.

"So where does this festival take place exactly?" If Aen were to do some scouting, he would need to know of the whereabouts.

"Well, it's in the sky actually," Danny said seriously, causing Aen to double take what he had just heard, how could they fight in the sky? Was this yet another feat of machines?

"Pardon?" Aen responded, dumbfounded. "Surely you can't fight in the sky, how is such a feat possible?" Aen questioned with a certain amount of disbelief.

"The arena they made is suspended in the air by giant jets or something like that, I'm not really sure how they do it." Danny responded uninterestedly, he clearly showed more interest in the festival itself rather than the workings of the floating arena, and so Aen asked Rex for some help instead.

"Come now, surely you would know how this would work Rex" He said, hoping to get some answers, though this information wasn't crucial towards Aen's plans, it still had sparked his curiosity, and curiosity was strong force.

"Wish I could tell you buddy, but I'm just as much in the dark as the next person." Rex replied nonchalantly from his position ahead of the two, it seemed he was more focused on his task of entering the city rather than small-talk.

"Unfortunate" Aen muttered to himself, he guessed that he now had seen how Aesir felt when he rejected to tell him anything about the boats...

More movement was made before Rex had broken the rhythm of their systematic walking to stop and look about, before leading the two ahead towards the edge of the tree line. Rex walked out from the tree line and stopped before a large concrete mass, Aen assumed this was this city's wall.

Rex confirmed Aen's inference shortly after he had thunk it by saying, "Ok, we're at the wall now, just around here there's an entrance that smugglers use every now and then. So you guys don't make a big commotion, these guys are always on edge" Aen listened to what Rex had to say, and still couldn't shake a returning feeling of deja-vu.

Rex approached a small yet sturdy metal door placed haphazardly within the massive wall's structure, the door didn't look like it should have been there during construction Aen noted.

Rex knocked three times fast, three times slow, and three times fast once again, Aen could only assume this was a code of sorts used to enter through this way. Shortly after Rex produced the pattern of knocks, the door was opened, and a man with drooping dog ears, a faunas Aen corrected himself, stuck his head out the door looking around before letting his gaze fall upon Rex, and when it did, Aen watched the eyes lighten.

"Rex?" The faunas questioned, "Who's the company?" He continued

"Just some guys I brought along, never mind that though, we need to get into the city" Rex responded, hopefully Rex was on good terms with the faunas, he didn't want to wait through complications and further delay his plans. For all he knew, 'Roman' could have been long gone by now, and that was a worrying thought.

"Alright whatever, it's none of my business anyway. Come on in, good to see you back Rex" When the faunas spoke, Aen felt relieved, it was nice to know that there were no complications.

Rex walked in through the now opened metal door with Aen and Danny in tow. Aen took little interest in the small room within the walls, not much was in the room aside from a corroded couch, and a table with seemingly illegal substances on it to accompany the couch. The room in itself was also very small, Aen noted, which left him wondering how they smuggled in larger goods, possibly hidden amongst the cargo of this world's equivalent of a caravel.

Aen disregarded his train of thought and brought his attention back to the now, listening in on the conversation between Rex and the faunas.

"Yeah I know it's been a bit, I just didn't really need to do much more smuggling. That last haul had me set for a good bit, I only ended up coming because of these two." Rex jabbed his thumb over his shoulder in a gesture which pointed towards Aen and Danny, the later of the two who had been remaining quiet.

"Why'd you bring them." The dog faunas questioned, prolonging the conversation between the two, successfully making Aen antsy.

"It's a long story, and I don't have enough time to tell ya' buddy, so just open the next door, ok?" Aen mentally thanked Rex's choice to end the conversation, it seemed Rex didn't want to be in the room any more than he did, it was rather uncomfortable. How the faunas could sit there for whatever amount of time he had to, presumably long, was beyond Aen, and he didn't wish to be in his shoes.

With a scowl, the faunas walked away and produced a key from his pocket, pushed it into the keyhole, and turned it. Rays of light flew in through the now opened door, brightening the dark room and aiding the small lamp that acted as the room's only light source.

Rex stepped through the doorway first and Danny followed suit, breaking into a giddy walk, he was clearly excited to be in Vale, and Aen could clearly understand why. A life in the sewers with no changing scenery was a miserable life, and seeing such a drastic change in setting would be enough to make any man or boy alike giddy, Aen could clearly conceive his excited response to the door opening, and Aen would be lying if he didn't feel giddy as well. However Aen's reasoning for being giddy, and Danny's reasons for it were much different, Aen felt this in his omitted gut because he knew he had much to do now, he was just beginning, and Danny's reason was purely out of excitement.

When Aen followed Danny and Rex out of the door, he could now very clearly understand Danny's excitement, the view was absolutely gorgeous. From where the door opened out into, being atop the hills of the valley below, where the city was located, Aen could see everything.

Though the view was gorgeous, Aen couldn't help but notice the utterly strange topography of the city, towards the coast it seemed normal, docks, relatively flat land, but as it moved inland, the city started to become more bizarre. The land rolled on relatively flat for a good expanse, but then it was stopped by a large precipice, it was strange. How could this city be located next to the coast when it was also atop a plateau of sorts, it was strange topography indeed, but Aen decided not to think too hard about the fact. Though this strange formation of the land must have existed in Aen's time as well, it was still the first time he had seen this strange area of the world. The last he remembered, no kingdom inhabited this island, and before Seraphim had taken over this was the land that explorers were starting to travel to, driven by their restless curiosity and ambitious desires of wealth and fortune.

"We've entered in from the south, so we just need to head north over the river and into the residential district." Rex pointed about as he talked, reorienting Aen, he had earlier lost his sense of direction.

"Sounds doable, let's begin shall we" Aen stated, eager to begin.

-S-

By the time the sun had found itself comfortably suspended just above the horizon of dusk, the three had arrived within the residential district of Vale, and Aen was awed.

Whereas the city of Vacuo was bland and cluttered, Vale was much more vibrant, shops with bright signs and restaurants with appetizing delicacies lining their windows littered the streets, yet it never felt as crowded as Vacuo, not to say the city was not crowded however. Somehow Aen felt, safer, here in Vale, though he knew it was but a figment of his wishful thinking, he still felt a sense of security within Vale, whether it was the missing presence of the CFS though Aen could not decide.

He still had to keep close within his mind the fact that Seraphim could be just about anywhere, however, Aen doubted he would be within the cities. Most likely the demon would find comfort amongst the confines of the woods, whatever it was that he was doing however was something Aen could not conclude, whatever it was though, he had to have been connected to those corruption stones. There was no possible way a man could acquire such an unholy object without the help of fiends.

Yet, what was it that would warrant the acquisition of such unholy relics, was it Seraphim that had ordered the command directly, or was he just the king, playing a game of widespread chess. The only possibly reasoning for the appearance of the stones Aen could perceive, was that Seraphim was trying to create pawns for his cause by using the corruption stones to create lesser demons out of unsuspecting humans.

However, this also brought upon the thought that Hell must still be relevant, there was no possible way Seraphim could collect that many stones alone, he would need someone to help him, and who better than the inhabitants of the stone's homeland. There was just one thing though, were the Hell gates sealed, surely thousands of demons would have come pouring out by now, or was Seraphim the only one capable of travel between Hell and the over-world? These were all questions better suited for Aesir, surely he would know some of the answers to these questions that plagued Aen's mind with the unknown.

"This is it, It's not much but it should hold us over for the time being" Rex announced upon arrival at a rather small Inn-like building.

"It suits my needs well enough, I do not need a place that's nice, rather one that is convenient." Aen responded, inspecting the shapes and design of the building that had found itself in front of him, searching for any possible flaws or inconveniences in the building's structure.

Upon spotting none, he followed after Rex and Danny into the small apartment building, coming to halt before a chest-high counter, where a woman sporting a rather tight suit sat. When they entered, Rex spearheading the three, the woman behind the counter looked up and widened her eyes in visible surprise.

From her place behind the counter, she spoke, "Rex! Where have you been, it's been far too long since your last visit." She spoke in a seductive tone, clearly these two must have had some history together, whether it was heartfelt or not though, Aen cared little.

Rex smiled sheepishly before continuing, showing some barely conceivable embarrassment, "Oh come on, remember I told you I wouldn't be back for a while, that last haul was a lot." The woman stood from her seated position and laid her arms on the desk in a gesture of relaxation, her dark brown hair flowing down her back "Yeah, you didn't tell me you'd be gone that long though, I missed you" She mock pouted, leaning in towards Rex with lustful purple eyes.

Seeing that the encounter was slowly spiraling out of control, Aen cleared his nonexistent throat, an action that should have proved impossible for a rotted skeleton, it seemed the abyss did a better job of hiding his normalcy than Aen had thought.

Noticing the loud noise, Rex shot up from his lulled trance and began introducing his companions to the lady behind the counter. "Oh, uh, excuse me." Rex pardoned himself. "Orona, this is Aen and Danny. I've told you about Danny, haven't I?" Rex questioned, which was met with a nod from the now identified Orona, and a smile directed towards Danny, which he returned with his own smile.

"And this guy over here, is Aen" Rex gestured to Aen with a jab of his thumb, and Orona directed her gaze towards Aen. Aen felt little comfort under the demeaning gaze of the woman, and couldn't help feeling slight discomfort as her purple eyes studied all of him, yet all of it washed away when the lady smiled and nodded. "Good to meet you Aen" She said, then diverted her attention back to Rex, questioning him, "Where'd you find the boy, I thought he went missing?" Orona questioned Rex.

"He did." Rex cast a sorrowful glance at Danny then continued his speaking, disregarding his previously expressed sorrow. "That's why this guy's here" Rex once again gestured to Aen. "He found the boy crawling around in the sewers and brought him back to me, he wanted a ride to here, and that's why I took him. It was the least I could do to repay him" He finished.

Orona smiled a happy grin and turned to Aen, "Thank you so much for finding that boy, Rex has been worried sick for the longest time because of that boy." Aen nodded in reply to the sentence and expressed his thoughts on the congrats, "No need for the praise, the boy was most helpful in allowing me to find Rex. Had I not had his help I would not be here." Aen spoke, brushing off the praise with a simple sentence.

Orona smiled teasingly and spoke, "My My, aren't you quite the champion, you hero" She teased, evoking Aen's attention at the use of the word champion, however it was just teasing, and Aen brushed it off.

The woman smiled slyly and turned to Rex, letting her gaze linger on Aen for a second longer before beginning to talk to Rex. "Well," She began, "What are you here for, same thing as usual." She questioned.

"Yup" Rex spoke, "Just, make it two rooms this time, I'm sure Aen would like some peace and quite for himself. He's had to deal with the two of us for a while now, I'm sure he'd want his own room." He said, jabbing Aen in his armored side with his elbow, which was accompanied by a joking grin. "What do you think Aen, least I can do is give you your own room, Huh" Rex smiled warmly.

"That would be quite beneficial. Thank you for the offer." Aen stated with his own unseen mimicked grin.

"Well, two rooms it is." Orona stated. "Don't worry about the pay, I've got you covered" She said, attempting to show some amounts of good will, with much success.

She reached under the desk to some unseen compartment and produced two keys from their unseen hiding spot, placing them on the counter and sliding them towards Rex with a seductive smile. Rex grabbed the keys, read the imprinted numbers on them, and gestured for Aen and Danny to follow him out of the lobby and to a staircase that was previously unnoticed by Aen.

On the second floor of the building Rex stopped and handed a key to Aen, then pointed to a door just across from the one Rex was standing in front of, "That's your room right there, I'm just across from you so if you need anything just knock." Aen nodded and turned from Rex, unlocked the door, and the opened it, allowing Aen to take in the sight of the room before him.

The room was unlike Aen was expecting, rather than the dusty room with equally dusty furniture that Aen was expecting to grace his sight. He was instead greeted by the sight of a rather cozy looking room with comfortable looking sheets and a comfortable bed to accompany it. A door stood to the left of Aen, who was now inside the room, and he had to reason a guess that behind the doors was a bathroom, and when Aen opened the door his guesses were made fact as the sight of the surprisingly clean bathroom graced his vision. All in all, the room was rather cozy, which was contrary to the looks of the building from the outside, with its clean white sheets, gray carpet, and single window looking out into the city streets, Aen deemed the room rather livable.

Whether this was just Aen having lower standards for rooms in Inns, as he had been accustomed to the drab and uncomfortable Inns of his time, or that these rooms were just genuinely cozy, Aen couldn't determine that at the given time.

With Aen's quick study of the room complete he decided now would be a good time to question Rex on a few matters, specifically pertaining to anything about Roman, and whoever he was. Surely Rex would know something on the matter, he talked about 'a big haul' a lot, perhaps he was smuggling those corruption stones, that would certainly classify as a big haul, however, the CFS were smuggling those stones, and Rex was no longer associated with the CFS, perhaps everyone was in on smuggling the corruption stones? If so, these smugglers had no idea what dangers they were posing.

Grabbing his key and stuffing it in one of the many leather bags and pouches meant for supplies that adorned his armor, and exited the room. The key found itself placed next to the disquisition stone within Aen's leather extensions of his armor, Aen took note of where he placed the key and moved to the door of his small room.

Aen opened the door and stepped into the hallway, leaving his own door open, so that he would not have to open it again shortly after. He raised his armored gauntlet and knocked lightly on the door, producing a gentle thud on the wooden door's exterior.

Shortly after Aen had knocked on the door he heard feet shuffling, and then the knob twisted, allowing the wooden gate to open inwards towards Rex's form.

"Already knocking? What's the problem?" Rex said with a small smile on his bearded face.

"If it does not bother you, may I ask a few questions of you" Aen asked "In private" He added silently at the end.

Soon after Rex had listened to what Aen had to say, his face adopted a worried expression, and he stepped out of the room after telling Danny, who sat at the back of the room, to wait where he was.

Once Rex stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him, Aen spoke once again. "I have a few questions I must ask you, specifically pertaining to my reason being here." He paused, then spoke once again. "I feel I can trust you." He added.

"Well, sure, ask away lad" Rex replied.

"I thank you for your cooperation, let's just talk in my room." Aen responded, he knew it sounded suspicious, yet how else could he word it, Rex seemed to trust him enough regardless.

Aen lead Rex into his own room and closed the door behind them, Rex took a seat in a chair that stood adjacent to the bed's position, and Aen opted sand before him.

"Before I begin, I feel I should let you know why it is I am here." Aen began. He didn't plan on telling Rex everything, rather hide his identity and intentions behind a curtain of half-truths, with some truth still present.

"To put it simply, and to spare you a lengthy explanation, I'm hunting someone." Aen started, and was relieved when Rex didn't protest or speak out, rather, only sat in silence, listening attentively.

"I also feel that you would be the best person to ask for the whereabouts of this person I'm hunting. Surely a smuggler just as yourself would know some people around here." Aen questioned.

"Well lad, I can't answer you on this one if I don't know who you're looking for. You are right though, I know most of the hot shots around here." Rex responded phlegmatically, expressing slight sarcasm.

"Well, what if I told you I was looking for a man named Roman. That evoke memories?" Aen questioned, it was concise and to the point.

Rex's ears seemed to have perked at the mention of the name, but Aen's perception could have easily deceived him.

"Now, Roman Torchwick" Rex spoke slowly.

"Let me tell you kid, he's been skirting the police for the longest time. Every time the police think they got him, he's gone, how they haven't been able to capture them yet is beyond me." Rex spoke rather ambiguously, not revealing much useful information about the man in the process.

Realizing the lack of information Aen was receiving, he decided to make his point even more clear, "I care little of the man's story, all I need to know is if you know him, and where I can find him." Aen stated rather annoyed with his lack of info.

Rex scowled, then spoke to Aen "Yes" He spoke. "I know him, not personally though. He works for a gang similar to the CFS called, 'The White Fang.' The gang started out as a pretty simple organization centered around faunas rights, recently though they've been turning to violence, Robbing, Mugging, that sort of thing. All of this because of that Roman fellow." He told Aen, allowing him some information that wasn't exactly useless, but still proved useful, background information was useful up until a certain point."As to where you can find him however" Rex continued "That's a little dependent on the situation. Recently, the demand for smuggling has been crazy, White Fang, CFS, it doesn't matter, all of them have been going crazy, it's mostly dust that they want smuggled, but there has also been a high demand for these strange rocks."

Upon Rex's mention of the 'strange rocks' Aen's attention was instantly drawn to it, he had a suspicion that these strange rocks were the corruption stones that were being smuggled to whoever Roman Torchwick was. This would further solidify his theory of Roman being in contact with Seraphim, what other use would he have for the unholy stones.

Rather than interrupting however, Aen allowed the smuggler to continue, he would question it after, he didn't want their conversation to get derailed just yet.

"I do know this though" Rex started.

"When I smuggled for them recently, they usually have meet-ups at these abandoned warehouses just by the ocean near the coast, it's pretty hard to miss the only abandon buildings, and guess who watches over the exchanges." Rex stated, posing a rhetorical question to Aen.

"Roman Torchwick himself. So, if you can sneak in on one of their deals, you might be able to get the guy, they keep a lot of people on guard though, so be careful of that." Rex finished, giving Aen some exemplary information on the subject, however, there was still some things left unanswered that Aen would have preferred to have been, specifically pertaining to the corruption stones. As much as Aen wanted to ask about the corruption stones though, he felt that getting more information about Roman would prove much more useful in the given situation.

"I thank you greatly for the information" Aen said, continuing the conversation.

"If I am to be doing this however, I would need to some details of the man's appearance. Care to help?" Aen asked.

"The guy's hard to miss. He's got the strangest hairdo, bright orange hair that comes over his right eye" Rex said, gesturing towards his own eye with his finger. "He's also got this bright white suit that he wears with a bowler hat. The guy's got the weirdest fashion sense, it doesn't seem like he cares about be inconspicuous either. If he is there he shouldn't be hard to miss" Rex finished, giving Aen all the information that he would need, anything else he could ask about later, it was not of the most importance yet.

Even though Aen had all the information he needed now, there was one thing that still irked him. Why had Rex told him this? This was most definitely not beneficial to Rex's livelihood, he was practically putting him out of a job by capturing the man, yet he still helped regardless, why?

"Rex" Aen stated. "Why are you helping me? No benefit comes out of helping me, so why do you do it, you would be out of work" Aen questioned genuinely confounded.

Rex sighed, "Look." He began "You've done something I haven't been able to do for the longest time, and bringing that boy back is one thing I can never repay you for. Besides, the White Fang isn't the only person to smuggle to" Rex chuckled softly to himself. "Those white fang guys are assholes anyways"

Aen chuckled himself and responded, "I'll make sure they get what they deserve then, tell me where to go"

Rex smiled solemnly, "You do that..."

-S-

The sun had only just fallen below the horizon by the time Aen was able to locate what he assumed were the abandoned warehouses Rex mentioned, he did say they were the only abandoned ones however, so he had to have been in the correct place. Running off the assumption that he was in the correct place, Aen had taken to hiding within one of the abandoned warehouses which was filled with a myriad of old wooden crates. He stuck to observing, hidden behind a foggy glass window, rather than openly searching the area himself.

His timing could not have been more desirable as well. Shortly after he arrived and hid within the warehouse, he witnessed an immensely sized ship unload crate upon crate filled with something unknown. If Aen had to reason a guess however, he would have guessed it was 'dust' the strange substance that even the people of this time knew little of, the large logo of 'Schnee Dust' on the metal cargo containers was a dead giveaway however.

Aen's earlier assumptions seemed to have been made fact as well, why offload containers to an abandoned facility, that reeked of thievery. Aen watched attentively through the glass window as his view of the open concrete platform was obscured by the large metal containers offloaded from the gargantuan ship.

Realizing that the crates continued to block his view, he began to stand, moving to leave before he was interrupted by a low rumbling in the distance. Stopping in his tracks, Aen withdrew his longsword from its sheath and pulled his shield free from its home on his back, immediately tensing where he stood.

The low rumbling soon grew to a high pitched whine, as a gust of wind accompanied the appearance of a gigantic fly metal contraption with light emitting from its underside. Aen watched closely in awe as the metal contraption flew into his view, landing with what Aen assumed was the back facing him in front of the warehouse he was in, Aen had to reason a guess this was one of those airships Aesir had shown him, their official name was unknown to Aen however.

Disregarding his awe of the contraption, Aen returned to his previous position of observation and watched warily, transposing his longsword into a small kukri after returning his shield to his back. Aen's earlier assumption of the back facing him was made fact, as a long metal ramp extended from the back of the metal contraption, allowing Aen to just barely see into the interior of the ship.

It was fairly spacious, yet if these faunas planned on hauling these crates out using only those contraptions' interiors, Aen doubted they would get far, they were not very inconspicuous to begin with. They wore what Aen assumed to be their signature outfits, further displaying the fact that they stood out, however there was one man that Aen could see within the machine that stood out even more.

Judging by the appearance and now apparent strange fashion sense, Aen could conclude that this was Roman Torchwick, it matched the description Rex had given him almost exactly. Allowing logic to drive him instead of impulse, Aen continued to observe the situation, perhaps he could strike when the men were spread thin.

"Hurry up, go get those tow cables, we aren't exactly the most inconspicuous group of thieves" Aen heard who he assumed was Roman, shout from the base of the contraption's exit ramp. Shortly after the issued command was given, the many faunas that had exited from the metal machine spread out, and Aen's non-present heart jumped as he watched a group of men approached the warehouse he was hiding in. This must have been where they were storing the tow cables that Roman shouted for them to grab, how lucky of Aen to hide in that exact building.

Luckily however, only a small segment of the larger group approached Aen's hiding position, they must have stored some more cables in other positions.

Though it was not ideal, Aen could work with the situation, he could attempt to take out the small group of faunas approaching him silently without the others noticing. An unseen advantage for Aen.

Aen quickly took count of the amount of faunas approaching his position, three, it shouldn't be too difficult to do given he could do it silently. Scurrying away from his position next to the window, Aen hid behind a large wooden crate located towards the back of the warehouse, it was comical, yet also served practicalities.

Aen listened as the door was swung open with a creak of protest from the unattended hinges, and switched his grip on his kukri from a forward grip, to a reverse grip, reading himself to begin an attack at any moment.

"Clear the warehouse! I don't want anyone sneaking up on us while we haul everything out of here!" One faunas shouted from the entrance of the warehouse, presumably the leader of the insignificant group.

The faunas spread out and began closely observing the warehouse, searching for any would-be inhabitants like Aen.

From where Aen stood behind the tall crate, he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching from in front of the crate. Anticipating that the faunas would unknowingly walk past the crate he hid behind, Aen readied himself for a quick and lethal attack.

Just as Aen had suspected, the faunas walked right past his crate without a second thought. Aen took note of the saber the man was holding, and quickly pounced forward from behind the man.

Aen grabbed the masked face of the faunas and pulled it back, allowing him to violently stab his kukri into the chest of the man. The man attempted to yell in pain, but was only met with an armored hand covering his mouth as the kukri stayed lodged in his chest with no hand holding it in place. Rather than holding his hand on the kukri's grip, Aen quickly released his hold on the knife allowing it to stay lodged into the chest of the faunas, and reached for the saber in the man's hand, pulling it free from his grip before he could drop it in pain.

With the sword in his hand and his offhand muffling the faunas impaled with a kukri, Aen stabbed the rather small saber through back of the man's neck, allowing it flow through until it protruded out of the other side of the faunas's neck. Aen pulled his kukri free from the man's chest and gently set the White Fang member down on his side, with little noise.

Of course, the attack was not silent, no such thing existed, but the attack was very quiet nonetheless. It seemed Aen's sudden movement had caused more of a noise than he had expected, as heard another White Fang member somewhere out of his view, call out.

"Hey! Jasper? What's going on?" The call was not quite, yet luckily not loud enough to attract the attention of the other members in the building, and Aen was grateful for that.

Planning to do a similar tactic, Aen readied himself behind the crate he had attacked the other man from behind, and stood ready with the body next to him. As the White Fang member drew closer, Aen could hear a small gasp be released from the mouth of the faunas, and then frantic footfalls approaching Aen's position. The faunas had most likely found the body of his comrade and came rushing forward.

As the faunas ran forward, he came closer to where Aen stood around the corner of the box, presenting himself to Aen's trap.

Springing around the corner with incredible speed, Aen grabbed the man by his face, covering his mouth, and slammed him up against the side of the crate with a light thud. Once pinned against the crate, Aen made quick work of the faunas. He stabbed him through the throat and then dragged the blade out sideways, leaving an open gash in the member's neck.

Letting the body slide down the crate like a worn out doll, Aen stood straight and searched for the position of the remaining faunas. He was not far from where Aen now stood, searching through one of the wooden crates with his back turned to Aen, he could not have presented Aen with a more ideal position for a quick kill.

Aen approached as quietly as his armor could allow him to, making only little movement before the faunas took notice of a footfall that was bit louder than Aen had wanted it to be. The faunas whipped round as fast as his body would allow it, and was in the process of shouting before he was tackled to the cement ground by Aen's armored form.

With the man below him, Aen stabbed his kukri into the face of the man, directly between the eyes. The attack produced a sickening crack as facial bones cracked under the weight of Aen's heavy attack, producing a large splurge of blood to accompany the attack, that found it's place on Aen's helmet.

With the three faunas killed, Aen allowed himself to relax, only slightly however. He transposed his kukri back into the form of a longsword, evaporating the blood on the blade in the process, and moved his position back to the window he was looking through before. He was not able to get much of an idea of what was going on before a large explosion obscured his view.

Aen struggled to make out what was going on, but was only left more confused as a cloud of black smoke blocked his vision. Fearing that Roman was making a getaway of some sorts, Aen rushed from his hiding spot and out the door, coming to a stop just behind one of the many shipping containers.

Aen glanced around the corner of the container and was met with the sight of even more explosions, all of which were originating from Roman himself. He was launching explosions at something, how he was doing it was beyond him, but he cared little at the moment. Seeing that now would be a good time to attempt to incapacitate the man as he was distracted, Aen began to step forward from his spot behind the metal container but stopped once he took notice of a blonde haired boy that had just kicked Roman in the face from above.

Aen watched as the blonde boy exchanged a few words with Roman, but was unable to observe the situation properly before another two metal flying machines flew by over his head, kicking up dust in the process. Several more White Fang members jumped from the flying machines and began to surround the boy, Aen was about to intervene but was stopped by a saber harmlessly colliding with his armor from behind.

Aen turned quick and slashed at whoever was behind him with his longsword, blindly attacking with only a vague sense of direction in his head. The attack was successful however, to Aen's surprise, and a White Fang member that had attempted to sneak up on him had his gut cut straight through.

It appeared that one member was not his only adversary however, in a similar fashion to how they surrounded the blonde boy, a group of White Fang members now surrounded him.

Aen quickly observed the weapons of his attacker and was relieved to only see the sabers the previous members wielded. With confidence in his head, Aen began his attack, beginning with a horizontal slash across the chest of one White Fang member. Another member quickly closed in from behind and swung his blade with a sloppy attack which was pushed away by Aen's now drawn shield, the parry was then followed up with an arm cleaving slash.

Seeing that individual attacks met with little success, three faunas charged in at once, all slashing at different angles and intervals. Aen dodged the first attack with a swift movement and turned with a quick motion, stopping one of the faunas's attacks with stab through the chest, the third member's attack was only met with Aen's shield.

With the block successful Aen moved in on the faunas, bashing him with his shoulder and sending stumbling back, taking advantage of the man's temporary state of unbalance, Aen charged in with a slash that cleaved down the faunas's shoulder, stopping only when it hit his vertebrae. With only three other faunas remaining out of the group that attacked him, Aen charged forward, transposing his longsword into the form of a brutal hand axe.

Once the distance between Aen and one of the three surviving White Fang members was closed, Aen reared his hand back, and using the combined momentum of his charge, Aen sent the axe crashing down onto the feeble guard of the members.

The axe crashed directly through the unskillful attempt at a block and continued downwards into the skull of the faunas, splitting it into two sickening halves. Aen found himself surprised that the two remaining faunas had still held their ground as stoically as they had begun, the gory sights were surely not pleasant. However, perhaps this was only increasing their already immense resolve, seeing their faunas brothers be killed at the hands of what they assumed to be a human surely stood against their ideals.

Aen disregarded the quick thought nonetheless and brought himself back to full attention once one of the faunas charged in with his ally directly behind. Rather than allowing the faunas to complete his charge, Aen sent a powerful kick into the chest of the faunas, knocking him onto his back, possibly breaking a rib if the accompanying yell from the faunas held any relevance. Not allowing his injured comrade to faze him, the second faunas charged in with a mindless intent of death, which was only stopped when Aen's shield pushed away his quick-witted attack.

With the faunas now open Aen sent the axe burrowing into the faunas's unprotected side, resulting in a squelch of blood and gore. Quickly pulling the axe free from the dying faunas, Aen charged forward intent on finishing off the previous faunas he had kicked to the ground. Within seconds Aen stood above the writhing form of the faunas and rather than watching him suffer, Aen quickly sent the axe crashing down on the man's head, ending him quickly with a brutal yet efficient attack.

Returning his attention back to Roman, Aen was greeted with the sight of a large cargo container smashing down onto the ground, narrowly crushing the blond boy he had observed shortly before, and an accompanying black haired girl that Aen had failed to notice before. Wherever that girl had come from, Aen did not know, but he could safely assume that she was working with the blonde boy, marking her as a temporary ally.

Though the cargo container was unsuccessful in crushing the two figures, it did bring the blond boy into range of Roman's weapon, which Aen now noted with much confusion was a cane. Not wanting to lose a chance to attack, or the acquisition of a new ally, Aen began to move forward.

He did not make much headway however. Aen stopped as he heard a disembodied voice yell, "Hey!"

Quickly looking ahead to face the origin location of the voice in a similar fashion to all the other people nearby, including Roman, Aen saw the form of what he guessed was a girl atop on the warehouse buildings in front of him.

It appeared that Roman knew the girl, as he had yelled "Oh! Hello red!" In a very sarcastic nature. Aen could not determine whether 'Red' was the real name of the girl, or just a belittling nickname given to her by Roman. The red girl's attention did not hold on Roman for very long however, and once she looked away for whatever reason, Roman raised his cane and launched an explosion towards the red girl, knocking her away and confirming that the two were in no way allies.

Aen watched Roman quickly begin to dart from the scene, as yet another figure joined the fight from the rooftop where the red girl stood. Ignoring the fact that far too many people were showing up for Aen to keep track of, he chased after Roman with a soul intent of capturing him.

Aen quickly closed the distance on Roman and prepared to attack, however, Roman took notice of his armored pursuer and quickly turned to face him, launching and explosion towards Aen. Noticing the explosion quickly after it was launched, Aen collapsed into a roll, maneuvering his way under the launched projectile with an expertly timed dodge.

Once he came free from the dodge Aen knocked the man in the side with his axe, which only caused the man to stagger to the side, confirming that he had aura. With the newfound knowledge that Roman had an aura protecting him, Aen allowed himself to attack with added zeal. However, he would still have to be wary not to kill the man once his aura dropped, however there was no way for Aen to tell when his aura dropped, he would just have to attack carefully.

With the man staggered Aen continued his attack with a powerful overhead swing which only met Roman's surprisingly sturdy cane.

Aen took note of the fact that the man was more skilled than the other White Fang members and that attempting to break his stoic block with the small hand axe would result with naught. With this newfound knowledge, Aen quickly transposed his axe into a small broadsword fit for fast attacks that would allow Aen to find openings in Roman's attacks.

With the broadsword now in hand and his shield in the other, Aen encroached on Roman, who showed clear confusion on his face.

Aen took the initiative and opened with a quick slash which Roman dodged with a quick backstep. Knowing that Aen could not allow Roman to have a range advantage, Aen quickly moved in on him with a flurry of slashes, all of which Roman dodged with expertly timed movements.

Seeing that Aen had finished his last attack, Roman now began his attack and attempted to bash Aen in the side of his armored head. The attack never connected, much to Roman's dismay, and instead met Aen' shield with a loud clang. Even before the attack had connected with his shield, Aen had already begun to wind up a stab, and so when it did connect Aen had already landed the attack.

The attack still did not break Roman's aura, but it did successfully stagger him, just as Aen was about to move to attack the black haired girl from before jumped in and kicked Roman in the gut sending him rolling back.

Thankful for the help, yet also annoyed at the fact of possibly getting his quarry stollen, Aen moved in with no response to the girl's attack.

Once Roman emerged from his backwards roll, Aen had already been on him with a slash ready, it did not meet however, stopped by Roman's cane. Not allowing the one failed attack to discourage him, Aen continued with a flurry of blows, and in a similar fashion to before none connected with Roman's body, most being blocked or dodged.

However, dissimilar to before, the last attack of Aen's flurry did collide with Roman's midriff, staggering him and allowing the girl to jump in once again and begin her own combination of attacks. Taking a moment to recollect himself Aen observed the raven haired girl fight, and was bewildered as she seemingly fazed in out of tangible existence with swift movements and attacks.

Roman was not nearly as surprised as Aen was though, and was easily keeping up with the girl's pace. The girl fought with quick movements that rivaled Aen's own unnatural speed and employed spins and kicks into her attacks which were accompanied by her short tanto-like blade. Aen was amazed that Roman was able to land as many hits on her as he did, yet for ever two hits Roman landed on the girl, she landed one of her own.

Seeing that the girl was stuck in an uphill battle, Aen intervened into her attacks and began his own advance. Aen was only able to land a hit that connected with Roman's cane before the sound of more of the flying metal contraptions met his omitted ears.

Aen backed off from Roman, only slightly however, and quickly glanced to his side seeing three oncoming metal flying machines.

Aen watched in fright as several projectiles collided with the ground around him, kicking up stone and dust with each hit. Knowing that he couldn't continue his attack with the flying machines present, Aen found himself at a moral crossroads.

Either he could take cover within the maze of cargo containers and avoid being torn to shreds, or he could take a chance and continue to attack with the projectiles still landing all around him.

He watched as the black haired girl cut her losses and quickly ran to the cover of the containers. This motivated Aen to follow in the footsteps of the girl, she most likely knew better of the extent of the machine's power, and if she ran it would probably be within Aen's best interest to run as well.

Following closely behind the girl, Aen watched Roman run towards a landed flying machine with a smirk present on his face. The taste of failure was bitter in Aen's jaw, but it was better than having no jaw or body to work with.

Once in the maze of metal containers the girl and Aen stopped in their tracks, and listened as the whirl of the machine's cannon died down, resulting in a temporary silence which was quickly destroyed by the sound of the machine crashing to the floor in two pieces along with it's identical other.

Aen's orbs widened as he watched the third machine be pulled down by some unseen force directly towards his and the girl's hiding spot. The girl had not taken notice of the falling contraption however and still stood hunched in her place, attempting to catch her breath. Not wanting to lose a potential ally, especially one he had worked so cohesively with, Aen grabbed her.

Throwing her over his armored shoulder Aen ran out of the cover of the now deadly container maze, with audible protests from the oblivious girl.

Not allowing her yells and hits to get him Aen continued his frantic run and escaped from the metal maze just in time for the girl to take notice of the falling machine. Her protests quickly died and she only silently watched as the no longer flying contraption came crashing down into the metal containers in a prodigious explosion.

Though they were a distance away, the explosion still had enough power to knock Aen and the girl on his shoulder forward. Aen landed on his side with a loud clang of his armor and slide several feet before coming to a stop on the dock floor. The raven haired girl on the other hand had come to a much more graceful landing, rolling out of her collision and coming to a stop standing before Aen's fallen figure.

-S-

Aen stood at the dock's edge with the black haired girl to his left, and oddly dressed one that had jumped from the roof next to the black haired one, all watching as two of the strange flying machines flew away, becoming smaller with each mile covered.

Aen scowled as best as his cadaverous face would allow, he was very close to catching his quarry, he had known he would have been better off running though. Yet, no matter how much he thought about it he felt that he could have worked around the situation and captured Roman.

He released a mimicked sigh and cut his losses, he could attempt to find him later, the only problem was that he didn't know exactly when the opportunity would present itself, and if it did, would it be too late?

"Thank you." Aen perked up and looked to his left, finding the black haired girl looking up at him.

"For what?" He replied. Though he knew the girl was probably thanking him for pulling her out of the way of the crashing airship, he still didn't think he deserved praise.

"Did you forget" She replied sarcastically, "I would have died if you didn't pull me out of that explosion" She said with a straight face, expressing little to no emotion.

"I hardly deserve praise for that" He replied humbly, "I just want to know who sent that machine right into us" He replied with his own emotionless deadpan.

At the mention of the crashed airship, the girl with orange hair and strange clothes spoke timidly with raised shoulders, "Blake! Were you near that when it exploded!? I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't me-"

"Don't worry about it, I'm fine so don't sweat it" The girl that Aen assumed was Blake cut her off rather rudely, but in a kind and humble spirit.

Aen was about to talk but was promptly cut off once the red girl from before ran up behind him panting loudly. "Blake! There you are!" She yelled rather loudly in a high-pitched voice that would have given Aen a headache had he still been capable of receiving one. "We've been looking for you forever, where have you been?!" She yelled once again, though it may have seemed like she was angry Aen could tell it was more concern than it was anger.

Blake was about to open her mouth to begin talking, but just before she began to talk the voice of the blonde boy spoke up from behind Aen, who turned to face the boy.

"She was with me." He said, "I'm sorry I didn't bring her back to you earlier she ju-"

"Sun no" Blake said, cutting off the blonde boy who Aen now knew was Sun. "I'm not letting you take the blame for something I did, now please just let me explain this" She exclaimed with a tone of solemn disappointment in her own actions.

Aen sat through the explanation, and had followed the group as they moved to a few wooden crates to sit on as Blake apologized again and again to who Aen now knew was called Ruby and not 'Red.' Aen also watched as Ruby took notice of the faunas ears on her head and expressed noticeable shock at the sight, if the two claimed to be 'teammates' as they referred to each other, then how had Ruby not known of her faunas appendages. How easy was it to hide them?

The talking between the two had continued on for a long time before Blake decided to direct the conversation to Aen's presence, and away from the subject of her disappearance, as Aen had learned about.

"Who are you anyway? Why were you after Roman?" She asked blatantly, the questioning was abrupt and brusquely presented.

Aen chuckled, "Not too apt on knowing my name before hand, or even who I am?" He questioned sarcastically.

"Fine" Blake replied, "Who are you?" She asked.

Aen replicated a smile under his helmet at the acquisition of a new ally, even if she didn't think they were allies, they worked too well together to not be.

"My name's Aen..."

 **-S-**

 **I'm back from the dead! Once again I apologize heavily for not updating this story recently, but I've got a life too, and I'm extremely lazy also.**

 **Don't worry though, this story will not be going anywhere, I will never abandon this without telling you guys before hand. So, as usual, you can leave ideas suggestions and criticism in the reviews, thank you so much for everyone that is following and reading this story, it means a lot to me. Writing this is sort of like a little escape every now and then from the real world, and when I get into it, I feel very relaxed, however it can be a pain in the ass to write sometimes.**

 **Now I'm gonna try out something new and respond to the reviews you guys left and give you some feedback on what I think.**

 **Comment from** Sarinman **: "So how long will it be before the RWBY cannon kicks in? I like OC backstory and development, but I hate it when they focus on that too much."**

 **Response: The RWBY cannon is now in, and I'm sorry if you feel that I spent too much time developing the character on its own. I just wanted to give the character some personality that wasn't built up and revealed through interactions with RWBY characters. I feel that you can only have so many different ways to react with the cast of characters you have in the RWBY cannon, and so I decided that I would use my own OCs to reveal the personality of Aen.**

 **Comment from** pyrothekid **: "I gotta say, this is really good! Kinda reminds me of the dark souls fics now that i think about it... anyway I hope you keep working on this I love the story so far"**

 **Response: You got me on that one! I absolutely love the Dark souls series, I do take a good amount of inspiration from some aspects of the games, I just hope they aren't too apparent or similar. And thanks for the positivity!**

 **Comment from bankerrtx01: "This is just a suggestion so take it as you please. Aen would meet Ruby, they converse well, and once Ozpin finds out. Oh boy fun at Beacon!**

 **Response: Good suggestion, I do plan on having Ruby converse well with Aen, but I feel as of right now Blake might be a better candidate, I won't forget about Ruby though. As for the "fun at Beacon part" I do plan on keeping this story mostly serious and not completely nonsensical, but you can expect a chapter or two with a good amount of some 'comic relief' from the heavier stuff.**

 **Comment from AKS-784: Interesting story thus far, I'm excited to see more**

 **Response: Thanks man, these kinds of comments are the best ones, they give quite a lot of motivation to write! Thanks fro reading mah dude, I hope you continue to follow.**

 **Well mah dudes, that's all for now, next chapter comes out whenever.**

 **-Stay toasty, From** Loasty **of The Toasty**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Old World Exchange

"And I take it you're Blake" Aen stated with his own phlegmatically tempered voice, prodding for answers in a way that wasn't forceful.

"How do you know that?" She responded hotly, ignoring the easily noticeable times her name was said aloud by her peers.

"I listen" Aen replied bluntly.

Though Aen's attitude may come across as short-tempered and abrupt, in reality it was just Aen being realistic and practical, though he still held a code of honor he adopted upon his acceptance into the servitude of the gods, he did not allow it to completely overrule his sense of practicality.

Of course, Blake had not seen Aen for his practical side, and instead saw him as the abrupt and rude man most people thought him to be in situations such as these.

"I don't appreciate people who eavesdrop." She said through a veil of tangible anger.

Sensing the hypocrisy in her statement Aen felt an urge to retaliate with claims of irrelevance, but did not allow his rarely seen impulsive side control his being, and instead sought to resolve their small strife.

"I know you may not find my presence desirable, but don't you think it would be beneficial that we get along?" He asked "You are only raising tensions by refusing to cooperate. Your friends appeared worried with you, and although I've only overheard some of your explanation, I've gathered enough to know that you should be more concerned with your friends rather than me." He finished, hoping it would be enough to bring the girl back to the reality of the situation.

Blake sighed, though Aen knew that not all of her anger had dissolved, she resorted to reason at the least.

"Fine" She stated and once again returned to her lengthy explanation of why she had disappeared, with the occasional add-on from Sun.

Ignoring the insults of eavesdropping, Aen listened attentively to the story the girl was telling, even if it was against what she had wished. He had picked up some of the details, but most remained an enigma, he would need to know more about the girl to pick up on her biggest motives, one thing did stick out to Aen though, she was in The White Fang.

If she was in The White Fang she must have known some of the details of what was happening recently, she could prove to be a valuable source of information regarding Seraphim and his whereabouts. He doubted she would know much of what was happening however, that seemed like information reserved for the people of higher rankings and any close.

However, Aen refrained from asking about that topic as of now, it was delicate ice he was walking on, and with a suit of armor at that.

Blake's story had dragged on for much longer than Aen thought it should have, and he was unsuccessful in pulling out any more information that would be beneficial to his objective, he really did feel as though he was eavesdropping now.

However personal the subject may be that the girl was talking about, Aen saw it foolish to pass up a situation with potential needed information, especially since he had just lost Roman.

Yet, Aen couldn't find anything useful other than the fact of her being in The White Fang, that was a subject that required questioning at a further date. There was one other thing that stood out to Aen aside from her previous allegiance however, she was hiding her faunas heritage from her teammates.

While Aen could understand the girl's actions he didn't deem it wise. Cohesive working with your teammates required coordination, and above all else, trust. If you didn't trust your teammate to do their job, then you would worry of their performance, invoking distrust and a lack of coordination, tearing apart everything that had been built up to that point.

Furthermore, a lack of faith in a teammate would nurture the seeds of hatred that we bare within our bosoms, teasing it with trickles of malignant drops of water until that seed burst forth into a tree of hatred, bearing avarice and indifference, growing through any and all in its path. Yet, the virulent trees could be chopped with an axe of virtue, though not many would wield that axe for they would first have to chop their own tree.

Aen couldn't ignore the thought, but he knew it was unwise to interject on such a sensitive subject, he already held such a wary presence at the time. As for why that wary presence surrounded him though, he couldn't guess, his appearance was surely suspicious and his neglectance to enlighten them was surely even more suspicious. Perhaps their mistrust wasn't unjust.

"Well, how about you tell us a little bit about you then?" The blonde boy named Sun said abruptly, ripping Aen from his sea of secluded thought.

Though he knew he couldn't give away much information of his presence, the questioning was unavoidable, more half truths and lies would yet again flow from Aen's omitted tongue. However, Aen couldn't understand why the blonde boy had brought the attention back to him, of all the people here he would have expected Blake to revert their attention to his presence.

Perhaps the boy was attempting to remove a burden from Blake's shoulders by pulling the heavy air away from her and placing it upon Aen's shoulders instead. Admirable and respectful, yet annoying.

"Well" He began slowly, carefully planning what could be said in his head with quick thoughts and brief run-throughs of the following outcomes.

"My reasoning for my being here is much similar to Blake's" He started cautiously, thinking quickly of what he would need to say about how his motives were similar without revealing too much of his true self.

"And how so?" Blake replied quickly after, giving Aen just an extra moment to think before speaking.

"You say to your friends that Roman Torchwick's presence is strange. I agree with this peculiarity, and feel as though darker motives lie behind the mask of protest these faunas display." He replied, allowing insight towards his motives in a vague enough way that would seemingly give enough information yet leave important points out, making it an unsolvable puzzle, one with missing pieces.

"What do you think is going on then?" The cardinal colored girl questioned, displaying her naivety through her genuine confusion of the subject.

Aen had hoped elaboration wouldn't be asked of him, but he could reply truthfully to this inquiry at least. "I haven't the slightest clue" He stated vaguely.

Of course, the vague response could still not satiate the curiosity and mistrust that Blake held within her being, and she asked for even more elaboration. "If you can't be sure something is actually going on, then why begin in the first place?" She asked, once again failing to notice the hypocrisy in her statement.

Aen sighed, the girl probably was aware of how she was acting, belittling Aen over things she had done just as well. Yet, Aen thought her a smart girl, perhaps she was testing his patience, or, he was just over-thinking it...

"You can't hope to accomplish much if you wait for the opportunity to present itself and only then act. You must seize the moment and take your chances, even if you risk failure" He stated with caged annoyance, "Of course, it all depends" He added for assurance.

"So your impulsive" Blake insulted passively.

Aen chuckled, "No, though most think that. I am, practical to put it simply. My thinking is to the point, and because of that people can be offended with how I operate." Aen stated with his light chuckle returning at the closing of his sentence, it may have seemed sinister but the chuckle was purely lighthearted.

"Practical or not, I'm still not clear what you planned on doing, what are your motives"

The chuckle faded away brusquely and in its place took a noticeable presence of annoyance at the girl's constant questioning, even though it was justified.

"I'd thought I made my motives clear" He stated, "Yet, it seems you question my moral drive rather than my actual goal." He finished, correcting the girl on an unclear statement that may or may not have been intentional.

Blake scowled, "I'd thought I made my question clear." She replied, mocking Aen indifferently, provoking a small spark of annoyance in Aen to burst, but thankfully to no damage. "For connivence, let's say I asked that instead" She replied in a tone which prodded at Aen's patience.

"Well then," Aen began. "I once again feel that I'm similar to you, I'm here to do what is right." Aen stated, making his drive clear enough to the four children around him, it was simple but he hoped it would suffice.

Blake sighed once again, adding to the myriad of times she had done it today "I guess that's the best I'm going to get out of you. You're right I'm really not gonna make any headway if I keep it up" Aen was rejoiced that Blake had allowed her annoyance and rage to leave her being, now they could finally converse humanly.

"Now that our quarrel is resolved, how about some chat. I'm somewhat of a foreigner here you see." Aen's quick change of subject and tone was uncanny and it did not go unrecognized by the group of teenagers around him, it was peculiar but they brushed it off as the Aen being eccentric.

"Oh uh..." The red girl fumbled on her words at the abrupt change of subject, "Well, to start I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose to be exact" She stood from her seated position on one of the few wooden crates they had used as impromptu chairs and gestured to herself with quick hand motions. Her hands did not linger long on herself and with another quick motion gestured to the orange haired girl sitting to her right saying with a sheepish smile, "This is Penny" who waved to Aen silently with a smile. She then gestured across from her to the blonde haired boy "This is... uh" She paused, realizing that she had not known the name of the blonde faunas sitting across from her, "Sun" The boy informed her.

"Sun!" She exclaimed, and then looked to Blake with averting eyes, "And this is Blake! You two have met though, I see." Though Aen could tell the red girl was attempting to wave away the tense atmosphere that hung over their heads, she was making more of a fool of herself with her awkward smiles and speedy dialogue.

Aen didn't show his amusement at the attempts of joy this girl was trying to create, and instead began to talk, trying to bring the conversation into his favor in terms of information. "Nice to meet you Ruby, likewise Sun and Penny" He said, nodding his head to the two names mentioned last.

"If you don't mind me asking, wh-" Aen never finished his sentence however as a shrill ringing caught his ear, causing him to stop his sentence midway. The others visibly cringed at the sound as well, and diverted their attention to the origin of the loud sound just as Aen had done seconds before them.

Aen's and the other's sight was greeted with bright flashing lights consisting of tones of blue and red, that threatened to blind them with their vibrant presence. As quickly as Aen had drawn his attention to the origin he pulled it away, averting his eyes in an attempt to shield them from the bright flashing of the lights, and soon his nonexistent ears joined the fray of irritability as they were filled with the sound of a high pitched ringing that rivaled a demon's screech.

Above the ringing Aen could make out a blaring voice with a strange vinyl-like tone to it yelling, "Vale police! Hands in the air!" presumably exercising a precautionary measure that ensured the speaker's safety.

Aen watched the teenagers he had been talking to quickly comply with the authoritative command and deeming it viable to comply as well, Aen followed in their unintentionally given example. As soon as all of the present fighters had raised their hands, the lights dimmed and the shrieking of what Aen presumed to be a car died away, allowing Aen some reprieve from the noises and sights that irked his senses.

Although the tones of red and blue had died away a bright light still shone into the eyes of the five present suspects, successfully blinding them. With caution, two men sporting armored gray vests and baggy blue pants approached Aen and the others with their metal firearms raised towards the group.

As the two came closer one looked towards his partner with a confused glance, and sensing the confusion in his gaze, his identically dressed partner spoke up, making his confusion known.

"Are you guys huntsman?" The police officer asked quizzically, glancing back towards his partner for assurance and then back towards the group. Ruby was the first to speak up, easily noticed by her higher pitched voice and began to address the police officers.

"Yes Sir!" She yelled proudly "From Beacon Academy just down the way!" She exclaimed, producing a mechanical device with a strange image of two crossed axes with wheat surrounding it on the front, with her picture next to it. Perhaps this was a symbol of her now known huntsmanship?

Aen had observed that fact that the girl was a teammate of Blake's but had not delved too much further into the prospect, now it was clear to Aen that this girl was a huntress, valuable information that should have garnered more of Aen's attention. However, Aen stored it in his mind for the moment and focused on the situation at hand, the arrival of the Vale authorities.

This could present a threat to Aen, however it could also prove to be beneficial, a threat in the sense that if they asked to see his face, which would not be too far-fetched, they could reveal his deathly appearance, and a benefit in the sense that they could give him possible leads on criminals such as Roman. The chances of it being a benefit over a risk though proved itself slim, pushing Aen to adopt a careful and distant approach to their presence.

Unfortunately, Aen's luck did not give him the benefit of the doubt as one of the police officer's had taken notice of the blood that had found itself on Aen's armor. Of course, Aen had forgotten about the blood, he was the only one here that had been tainted by innards of man, he surely stood out.

It was then that Aen had come to a realization, whether the others had too was undeterminable.

Aen had murdered...

Though it came as no shock to him, it surely would to the others. He had observed the fact that the others had refrained from killing outright and instead had opted to subdue their opponents rather than kill. Aen on the other hand had brutally split skulls, severed limbs, and broke bones without a second thought.

It did not bother Aen, but this was an unknown time, what was the social norm now was most likely far different from that of the past. Though murder was not a particularly severe crime back in Aen's time, it still was capable of green-lighting some of the most disgusting and disturbing punishments that had existed, and that was only reserved for the utmost severe example of murder, lesser murders were punishable with a slap on the wrist.

If these fighters so intently focused on avoiding death then what could the consequences of contemporary murder be? It was a thought Aen hoped he wouldn't have to dwell on.

As the police officer approached, Aen racked his mind for ideas on how to distance himself from this encounter and saw no other option than to negotiate.

Aen watched as the police officer's recently lowered firearm was gripped just a bit harder than it was previously.

The officer stopped and looked Aen up and down before releasing a sigh, "I don't know how you got that on you, and frankly I don't want to know." The officer began, easing yet raising Aen's easily influenced worries. "If it were up to me, I'd have you investigated, but since you're a huntsman that's out of my reach" He stated with slight tones of this man had thought Aen a huntsman as well? Rather than correcting the man Aen decided to work with his blessing, this was a very fortunate misconception.

"Clean up." The officer demanded, shoving a canteen of water towards his direction with a forward snap of his hand. Aen took the canteen with disbelief, overjoyed that he had avoided an entire risky interaction with little effort, and began to pour the contents slowly over the bloodied parts of his armor away from the group.

Aen watched as the water rushed over his armor causing the almost dried blood to wash away onto the floor of the concrete dock, all congregating in a crimson pool below him.

As Aen continued to wash his armor he observed the holes and dents that still found themselves on his armor from his previous fight with the CFS leader back in Vacuo. He would need to fix those soon, not only did they provide a safety risk to the integrity of his armor, it also provided a risk towards his identity being discovered. Granted, you couldn't see through the small holes all that well, but if you took the time to stop and study it closely you would just be able to make out the exposed ribs beneath his armor or his lack of skin and organs around his stomach.

With his short excursion to clean his armor and collect his thoughts on his appearance complete, Aen returned to the group who had found themselves back on the wooden crates from before. The police seemed to have stopped their questioning and instead now stood back at their vehicle talking into some strange black box about the situation, a form of communication perhaps?

It mattered little however, what use could he have for police communication devices?

Or perhaps they did prove useful...

If he could get his hands on one of them or even listen in on police conversations he could potentially learn about any crime organizations or criminals, specifically Roman and the White Fang. He needn't worry about it now however, though that would prove useful information to hold onto.

Trying to steal some of their communication devices or even listen in on them would most likely sour his already foul first impression, last thing he wanted was the police keeping an eye on him.

Once Aen returned to the group that had gathered around the wooden crates he made to restate what he had said before he had been interrupted by the loud ringing of the police sirens.

Just as Aen opened his jaw to speak however, the attention was immediately pulled away from him, by the arrival of two other girls. Aen closed his jaw stopping his current train of thought, and directed his attention towards the two new arrivals that had just found their way to the docks.

The first thing Aen had taken notice of was that the smaller of the two girls that had a strict white theme to her outfit, was armed. Aen could make out the shape of what he would describe as a rapier mixed with a lance sheathed at her hip, ready to be drawn at the slightest notice.

Though the significantly taller girl that stood next to the white themed one was not visible armed, visible being the key word, Aen still observed with caution. The weapons of this time were far different than those of Aen's, in appearance and use alike, there was no telling whether or not the girl had a weapon on the standby given this new time's affinity with strange weapons.

If Aen had to reason a guess however, he would put his bets on the yellow gauntlets that had found themselves on the wrists of the voluptuous girl.

They were uncharacteristically bulky, far too bulky in design to operate only as a defensive armor piece, the girl didn't seem too fond of armor to begin with given her... revealing, outfit. What interest would she have in only wearing gauntlets if she refused to wear anything else in the ways of armor, though Aen was out on a whim, he still took that whim with as much seriousness as he would a fact

With his quick study of the tall girl finished he then reverted his attention back to the white themed girl.

She was mad, and she did not do much to hide it Aen noted. Her clenched fists, stern gaze, and forceful deep breaths did little to hide her visible anger, and only made it far more palpable.

At the notice of the white girl Ruby shot up and instantly began speaking to her in a frantic voice, "Look Weiss it's not what it seems!"

Just what had Aen found himself in the middle of...

-S-

Ozpin put down his scroll and quickly moved his eyes to the tattered leather-bound journal on his clockwork themed desk.

The covers of the journal were made of what Ozpin would have to guess was deerskin, the texture of the soft deerskin no longer was the same however, and was now tough and smooth it's original softness gone along with the time. Somehow the inner papyrus pages of the journal still held together strongly given the journal's overall dilapidated appearance. Given, some pages were missing and others illegible, it was still miraculous how it survived for as long as he predicted it was around.

Most of the the leather binding had all but worn away, but enough of it remained to keep the journal bound together, and in working enough condition for Ozpin to freely read through it without fear of it crumbling in his hands.

And so Ozpin quickly opened it, the curiosity in his eyes practically brimming over his glasses, there was no way this could be. It was impossible, but surely Ozpin had seen a lot of 'impossible' things, why would this be any different.

Yet as much as he reassured himself that it was an impossibility, he couldn't shake the thought of it being legitimate from his mind, he had heard and seen enough things to make him believe in impossibilities. Ozpin took a deep breath and opened the journal checking it over for what must have been his third time, yet this time around he was far more focused on the contents.

He opened the journal and flipped through several pages before stopping at one and choosing to begin with the one he had opened up to. It may not have been wise to break the chronology of the reading, but he was looking for something in specific, something that would tie the knot and confirm his suspicions.

 _4th of the 3rd Lunar month_

 _This makes no sense, why would Bertrand choose me of all people to accompany the Royal guard, I have proved no worth to him other than at the battle of Falks, and even then my performance was not of any commendable value. Though I do not mistrust his judgment I'm not sure I can live up to whatever image he has put_ of _me in his mind, his_ guile _may finally get the better of him._

 _Nevertheless, it is an honor to serve with the Royal guard and I would be proud to uphold my task of defending the royalty, as much as I_ may despise them that is.

Ozpin flipped ahead several pages, this was not what he was looking for. Though the information was still interesting the third time through, he cared little for that at the moment, what he wanted was to confirm his theory.

If his suspicions were correct, then this could potentially rewrite history...

 _17th of the 3rd Lunar month_

 _I can't believe it, they were actually successful, they were able to make it through the outer guardsmen. This whole time we thought that we were so safe, that the slackers on the front line would be able to hold, we were so wrong. How in the world had they been capable of tearing directly through them, it's a miracle that the pigeon even made it back with the message, surely they would have killed it._

 _Or was that just a warning, did they let the pigeon go for a reason? Gods, this is horrendous._

Again, Ozpin flipped ahead several pages passing by what was once very interesting information to read, now it was only filler, none of it was what he was looking for.

 _25th of the 3rd Lunar month_

 _They did it, they actually did it. They made it through the third line, we're all that's left, we need to move the king now, we can't keep him here. Yet, if what the generals quietly whisper about is no myth then we may have no clear path out of the city, why aren't they sending the vanguard out to clear a path, we'll need to retreat. Surely they have gone mad, we can't sit here backed up against a wall, we need out, and fast._

 _However, if they do get here I won't let them through, they've already taken enough from me, the last thing I would let them take from me is the world. If it means my life for tomorrow then so be it._

Ozpin was close, he knew it. Something in here had to confirm his suspicions, the thought of it seeming impossible was beginning to slip his mind. Something in this journal would tie it all together and he just had to find it, he never did finish reading it after all.

 _2nd of the 4th Lunar month_

 _I saw it._ It's _stature is petrifying, I wanted nothing more than to attack the demon but there was something deep down inside of me that was keeping me from doing it. Was it fear? No, fear didn't make a man turn to stone, fear didn't make a man stop and consider suicide rather than face what was in front of them. No, that was_ terror _, pure terror is what makes a man freeze, and after everything I had said, I couldn't face the terror._

 _I only did react when it was right_ upon _me, and even then I was too slow, I could only fend off two blows before I felt its heated blade down my back. Had Dunbar not pulled me out of the castle, I fear I would have found my end within the palace._

Ozpin's skin itched, yet it wasn't a physical itch. It was an itch of want, he knew he was so close, maybe just a few more pages, the unknown was proving far more annoying than he thought.

 _16th of the 6th Lunar month_

 _I knew they would have it ready soon, they were gods after all. I could finally reverse the roles I could take the fight back to those demons, with their blessings I could carry the entire army back to Falks, push them all the way back to the fracture. I mustn't lose my head however, I need to keep my temper in check, this is no longer about pride or revenge, this is for the sanctity of our own land now._

 _They have desecrated it far beyond all reasonable bounds, this is our chances to rid all evil from this world. The new sword Balder made will be more than enough for me to take back our rightful land, what's to stop a sword that can make_ it's form _into that of every weapon._

That was all Ozpin needed, this confirmed just what he had thought, however the language he had thought metaphorical now held a deeper more serious meaning. Were demons actually real, or were they never here to begin with, not much was known of ancient civilizations after all.

He flipped back to the first page of the journal, he just needed to confirm one last thing.

 _23rd of the 9th Lunar month_

 _My name is Aen Connell, everything that will be written in this journal will tell my story, although one not likely, I am one with hope._

Ozpin closed the journal, satisfied, and reached his hand over to his scroll pressing a button in the center.

"Sir?" Glynda's voice rang through the scroll.

"Call him in" Ozpin stated ambiguously, not many others but Glynda would know what he meant. "Understood" She responded in her authoritative voice.

Ozpin stopped the extremely brief call and leaned back in his chair with his coffee in hand, "This will be interesting" He said, before taking a sip.

-S-

The girl with an affinity for white stood before Blake with her eyebrows creased, her significantly smaller stature did little to betray her palpable anger as well. Whatever it was that had made her so angry went unknown to Aen, however if he had to reason any guess he would say that it had something to do with Blake's disappearance.

Was this another teammate of Blake's?

The others did not seem to know much of Ruby's strife aside from the blonde faunas, and even then he was part of the disappearance. The only people that seemed to know exactly what was going on were the teammates of Blake, and Blake herself. So if Aen were to guess, this must have been a teammate of Blake's, however that didn't address the taller girl that stood behind the white one with an expression that displayed sympathy rather than the one of anger that the white one wore.

Aen had little evidence that would lead to him marking her as a teammate of Blake's but since she accompanied the white one who Aen solidly believed was a teammate, he would settle with writing her off as yet another teammate. Why else would she accompany the angry girl if she was not a friend or teammate?

However, like everything Aen's active mind thought up, it only raised more questions that required even more thought, and then, in turn, raised another question. Aen preferred to think over every aspect of a situation though, so it proved itself as no nuisance to him.

The question that had been raised though was that of the amount of teammates that Blake could have.

If Ruby was a huntress and Blake was her teammate, then that would suggest that Blake was a huntress as well, and if Aen's assumption about the white girl being yet another teammate was correct, then that would suggest that they were perhaps a team of huntresses.

Yet again, that still didn't address the yellow girl.

Maybe they were a team of four, though a team of four huntresses sounded a small bit excessive, given their observed skills. Or, perhaps they were some of the lesser skilled people in this time, in turn requiring a large amount of teammates. Aen wondered about the skill of these new warriors.

Deciding that his internal thinking had gone on for longer than he thought reasonable, Aen stopped himself, and brought his attention back to the two girls. The tension between the two was only growing as they sat in silence staring at each other, though the only one that displayed real anger was the white one. Blake's own expression was much more forced, and it seemed as if she was displaying that emotion more for intimidation rather than anything else.

"Weiss" She began, her voice solemn and genuine. "I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang" So the girl's name was Weiss, an interesting name but a minute detail at the time, what was far more important was what Blake was saying, and not strange names.

"Back when I was with th-" Aen, nor anyone else was able to hear what Blake had to say as she was immediately cut off by Weiss.

"Stop" she interrupted, her voice was low and serious but displayed a small amount of anger, which was contrary to her appearance, perhaps she always looked like that?

"Do you have any idea how long we have been searching for you?" She continued, her voice displaying even less anger this time around, with only slight passive aggression traceable in her voice. She spoke as if she was a mother scolding a child rather than the part of an angry girl that she had displayed earlier.

Weiss paused "Twelve hours" She scolded, Aen now had an idea of how long she had gone for.

Yet, twelve hours hardly seemed like a long enough time to warrant a large search and this much concern, or had she been gone for multiple days and this was only twelve hours of searching for the day? The information was not of the most concern, but it was information that Aen hoped to have all the same, he could work without it if need be however.

"And that means I've had twelve hours to think about this, and in that twelve hours I've decided" She paused again, leaving everyone to exchange concerned glances filled with anticipation, was her opinion so important?

"I don't care" She stated straight up, the shock was clear on Blake's face along with the faces of the others, it seemed this was an unexpected answer.

"All I care is that when something this big comes up, you come to your teammates" So they were teammates, Aen's theory was now fact and it made him proud that his analysis was correct. Aen only spared the detail a mental nod and instead brought his attention to the utterly shocked expression Blake wore.

She clearly had not expected such an answer, which made Aen think that perhaps they were not on the greatest terms to begin with, and this was a subtle sign of acceptance for Blake. That thought was solidified even more in Aen's mind when a solitary tear ran down Blake's cheek, which she quickly wiped away in an attempt to hide her emotions. This clearly meant a lot to Blake, and Aen didn't feel that he was in any position to interrupt the heartwarming moment, he would wait for a later time to gather more information.

"Of course" Blake stated with a smile, her mood visibly lightening in the process. Blake's mood was not the only one lightening however as Aen had observed Ruby's expression become increasingly more giddy with each spoken word until she couldn't contain it and made her happiness known with a shout of "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" It was clear she was happy.

Aside from Aen, everyone had stepped in to cherish the warming moment that would undoubtedly become a fond memory for the group. Even Sun had joined in on the moment, stepping in alongside everyone else, even if he was possibly not a member of the team like Aen had assumed.

Aen felt this assumption was a fact once Weiss pointed towards him with an accusing finger saying, "I'm still not sure how I feel about you!" Which the blonde faunas only responded to with a nervous laugh.

Sun backed off and allowed the team to have their moment, and Aen felt that he was more or less in the same boat as him and turned towards him for conversation while he allowed the team to have their moment.

"She has had it rough has she not?" Aen questioned, beginning what he hoped to be a friendly conversation with no real ulterior motives at play.

"What?" Sun questioned, clearly caught off guard by Aen's sudden attempt at friendship.

"Blake, she hasn't had an easy life, has she?" Aen repeated, making his question known to Sun through some minor elaboration.

"Well, I don't really know her well enough to tell you, but from what I know, yeah." Sun stated, allowing Aen some insight into Sun and Blake's relationship, the two must have met recently given Sun's lack of knowledge about Blake.

"I see... What of you? Anything interesting from your life?" Aen asked, once again posing another question for Sun to answer, he just hoped he wasn't being too forceful.

Sun looked towards Aen with minor signs of disbelief present on his face for only the briefest moment before it was wiped away. Was he really all that taken back that Aen wanted to make friends?

"Not much I guess. I'm from Haven and the rest of my team is there right now, they should get here soon though." He stated, allowing Aen to know that he was part of his own team of what he guessed were huntsmen.

"Other than that there's not much going on with me, how about you?" Sun directed the question back towards Aen, and although he would have preferred to keep the questioning one-sided, he knew that wasn't possible.

"I cannot say much unfortunately as I know little myself at the moment. As you know I'm here for Roman Torchwick, and mostly on a whim, and now that he's gone I'm back to step one." Aen stated, allowing Sun a bit more information than he had given the others, for some reason he felt comfortable around the boy. He felt this unwarranted sense of trust and as much as he would have liked to betray the instinctual feeling he thought it unwise.

"I'm not sure how much I can help you on this one then. I just sort of got roped into this whole thing." Sun responded.

"I understand, not much different from my own situation" Aen said, thinking back on the events that had lead him up to this moment, there were some obvious similarities.

"However it pains me to know that I haven't a direct lead." Aen stated making his conflict known to Sun, perhaps he could offer some help with enough prodding.

"I don't think I can help you on my own, but I get the feeling that this is only the beginning. If you stay around for long enough then you might get a lead, it's just a guess though" He added for assurance at the end, the boy had helped Aen more than he had thought with that one sentence though. Aen now had an idea of what he needed to do next, wait...

Whether it be with Rex and Danny, or with the huntsmen though Aen had trouble deciding, it seemed smart to stay with the huntsmen as they would likely be the more active of the two. Yet, he wanted to keep good relations with Danny and Rex, perhaps he could move back and forth between the two, it seemed doable, but he still needed a way to stay with the hunters, he doubted he could just walk into their academy.

"Aen?" Ruby said, catching Aen off guard as she had caught him whilst he was absorbed in thought. Aen turned to face the now hooded girl and looked down at her, waiting for her to continue her thought.

"It's Ozpin, he's the headmaster of Beacon academy." She paused. "He wants to speak with you, he said it's urgent."

Aen was dumbfounded, this was beneficial turn of events.

He needn't worry of how he would get to the academy anymore, he was invited right in. The proposition was highly suspicious, but highly useful at the same time, it had practically decided on his choice for him, he would be going with the huntsman now it seemed.

"Well, this a sudden turn of events. Tell him I'll be present as soon as possible" Aen responded, to which the red hooded girl responded to with a nod and then lifted her scroll to her ear speaking words that Aen was only able to make out vaguely.

"He said he'll come" Was all that Aen was able to make out before she walked off back towards her group to exchange some brief words.

Sun, who was still stood next to Aen looked towards him, "Wow, looks like you could have a lead on your hands."

Aen replicated an unseen smile with his cadaverous face, it seemed as if he never actually went back to step one.

One step backwards but two steps forward so to say...

-S-

If Aen could feel sick, he probably would.

This had to have been one of the strangest feelings he had ever experienced, there was movement all around him, but he stood still with the moving object all whilst in the air. It played with his senses making him unable to determine whether he should be falling or standing.

Of course, he had experienced feelings similar to this one, on a boat specifically, but even then his experiences with boats were limited. He had only ever been on one once within his memory, and he had felt the same misleading feelings he was experiencing now. Yet, this was similar but so different, these airships were exactly what they were titled, ships in the air, however that didn't make it any less disorientating.

If the strange and unnatural movements wouldn't make him sick then he was sure that the vertigo would do it for him. While he did find the sight from within the airship to be beyond beautiful, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was as high up in the air as he was.

What if the floor gave way, or the ship no longer flew? Though he knew that these ships were sturdy and not even a cannon could stray them from their path, it didn't stop him from running many 'what if' scenarios through his mind like he always did. Even though his body physically couldn't get sick, his mind could still get sick, his senses battled to determine what was what, what was up and what was down.

Though Aen may have made it a little dramatic in his mind he still couldn't avoid the disorientation that he felt within it, he felt dizzy. It was as if the world was moving without him and the added fear of the height did very little to ease Aen's ever rising worries. So rather than focusing on the downsides and the dizzying feelings that plagued his mind, he drew his attention towards the resplendent views that he was able to make out through the large side windows.

The water and beautiful drop off were sights that Aen believed he would rarely ever see again and though they were gorgeous it only made Aen more disorientated as he stared out the window. He ignored the feelings to the best of his abilities however and instead focused on making out all the small details of the academy that he could just make out in the distance.

The academy was certainly a sight Aen wouldn't be relinquishing from his memory very soon, the architectural design of the building wasn't all that different from that of his own time, yet... it was.

The beauty of the building alone rivaled all of the known palaces and castles Aen had seen during his time, human architecture certainly was getting better over the years. The tall pointed roofs and adjacent buttresses reminded Aen much of the capital from his time, Adwik palace was certainly a sight to behold, but when put next to this symbol of architectural perfection, it paled in comparison. The bright lights and florescent colors even challenged the supposed "aura of serenity" that the nobility claimed Adwik had surrounding it, the lights were so colorful and diverse that it made Aen's eyes confused to look at it, as if he was squinting to make out a blurry image.

It was the large tower located in the center of the mass of perfectly designed buildings that caught Aen's eyes however. It was tall, far too tall for a human to build Aen thought, the structure and size of the building was only comparable to the few demonic towers Aen had seen erected during his search for Seraphim.

Yet he doubted that demon's had built this, their structures, while similar in design were far different in terms of atmosphere and look. Where this building held an aura of peace about it, despite its intention of training fighters, a demon's building felt hellish and uncomfortable, as if hell energy was freely flowing throughout the building like pungent air.

This building was far more easy on the eyes, though it was jagged with its high pointed roofs being clear examples of that, it was nowhere near as jagged as a structure from hell. The angles always met in sharp ends, castle rooftops stopping at a point, triangular archways, a throne with a backboard that met in a point, whatever it was it always seemed to end in a point. It was as if the demons were trying to make the castle permanently uncomfortable, making it so that if you ever bumped a hip or slammed your shin, than you would feel immense pain, perhaps even some bleeding.

While Aen did feel that points did add to an overall aesthetic of the building, any overuse of it became monotonous and dull, proper building required a mixture of curves and points. Or at least that was what Aen thought, he was no architect anyway, just a delegate of the gods.

"It's quite the sight isn't it"

Aen turned on his heal at the sudden words which had shaken him from his stupor, at the expense of his fright that is.

When he turned he was greeted with Ruby's lithe frame and the yellow one's own curvaceous figure that she seemed to have little trouble flaunting.

Aen had guessed that it was the taller one that had spoken though as the tone of the voice was unfamiliar, not like Ruby's own high pitched and fast one.

"I would agree, this a sight that I cherish. Though this ship is much less cherish-able" Aen spoke, replying to who he had thought was the one that spoke.

"Ah quit the fancy talk big guy! No need to be so formal with me" She yelled with glee, "Name's Yang by the way, Yang Xiao Long!" She added with a wink, reaching her hand out for a handshake that Aen grabbed with a firm grip, responding with a short pronunciation of his own name. He had hoped his strength was not too unrestrained and he had not damaged the girl's hand, he had no reliable way of judging his strength with no muscular constraints.

Yang just smiled however and tightened her own grip, Aen worried that his gauntlet would begin to dent as the girl held an approving smile saying, "You've got a good grip there, almost as good as mine!"

When the girl released his hand, she immediately lost all air of the brief formality she just barely gripped and threw her arm around the smaller girl who's hood was shadowing her face.

"My sister here wanted to talk to you, but since she's so anti-social she couldn't do it on her own." She teased with a smile.

Aen listened to details as she spoke, yet the detail that they were sisters was curious. They bore little to no resemblance to each other, the way that she had called her a sister was a far-fetched claim.

That was unless their father or mother had perhaps remarried, it was a possibility and the only logical answer to the peculiarity that was the sisters' appearance. The only other logical claim he could think of was adoption, that seemed more likely than remarrying Aen thought to himself, he couldn't dwell long on the prospect however and he instead listened to what the red hooded girl had to say.

She didn't talk, was she gathering her thoughts?

Just as Aen was about to speak up Ruby began talking, lifting her head up only for Aen to conceive the red hue that masked her cheeks. "I just wanted to say thank you for helping out with Blake." She spoke quickly, almost too quickly for Aen to follow in fact.

Aen chuckled, the girl was obviously not the most adept in social situations, whether that was because of a lack of social contact or just natural Aen couldn't determine.

"I respect your thanks, but it is unneeded. I just happened to arrive at the right time." Aen responded humbly, flustering the girl with embarrassment even more, she truly didn't enjoy talking with strangers did she.

"Oh, sorry" Ruby responded, seeming defeated.

"No need for a sorry either, I am nothing special" Aen responded, he knew it was a lie however, he was just attempting to be humble. He was anything but 'not special' a walking skeleton was most likely a sight one would consider special.

"Looks like you're just an all around good guy then." Yang responded sarcastically showcasing yet another one of the differences between the two supposed sisters.

"It looks as if." Aen responded in his own sarcastic tone, which earned him a chuckle from the blonde.

"So, Aen was it?" She began, to which Aen responded with a nod, "What's the headmaster want to speak to you for? You two old friends?" She questioned, proposing a topic to Aen that he knew little of himself, yet he tried his best to respond to the girl with truth.

"To speak truthfully, I don't know why he would call for me. I haven't met the man before." Aen added. It was true he didn't know the headmaster, nor did he know most of the important figures of this time.

His request for him to meet was supposedly 'urgent' but Aen didn't know what could be so urgent to warrant inviting a stranger. Or, perhaps, he wasn't so much of a stranger to the man, Aen had no record of his existence in this new time but it was possible that the headmaster could be observing him given this new time's technology. It was an unlikely idea but possible nonetheless, his position of headmaster surely garnered him access to many things that he could use at his disposal, and considering the importance of these academies he had to reason a guess that whatever he had access to would be undoubtedly useful.

It was a scary thought that he could be watched at all times.

"Well that's strange." Yang spoke confused. She then turned to her younger sister, or at least she looked younger, and said "What do you think Ruby, you were the one with him." It was obvious that the older sister was teasing at the girl by putting her in an obviously uncomfortable position, it was surprising how much this girl disliked social interaction.

"I don't know" She muttered silently, at least she had talked.

Yang frowned, "You're no fun"

She slapped her the back proudly with a smile and yelled, "Come on Ruby you need to lighten up! How else are you gonna find a man if you don't even want to talk." That last part was probably not meant for Aen to here but he had still heard it nonetheless and watched as the girl's face lit up like a bonfire, the red hue that masked only bits of her cheeks before now covered most of her face.

Yang released a hardy laugh and watched as her sister quickly pulled her hood over her head in an attempt to cover her red face. It had worked surprisingly well and Aen only released his own light chuckle at the action, she clearly was not good with strangers.

When Yang's laughter died down she grabbed at her sister's shoulder and looked to Aen, "Well we'll probably see you around, if you ever want to talk with us come to the dorms we'll be there!"

It was an inviting gesture and also incredibly useful, more so than this girl had realized, He now had competent fighters on his side. If they would agree to help him when the time came it would be undeniably useful, and after observing the fighting prowess of one of their team members Aen was confident that they would prove useful. The way that Blake had fought was very unorthodox the way she incorporated jumps and pirouettes into her fighting was fluid and graceful, surprisingly effective as well, it showed high amounts practiced fighting.

However Aen still had not addressed the way the girl seemingly disappeared and reappeared as she fought, it was a strange ability that Aen had not seen used before by anyone or anything he had fought. It made her one of a kind, and on top of that, unpredictable. Yet Roman had still been able to block and dodge her attacks with some amounts of ease, perhaps she was not so much one of a kind, yet she was still unpredictable to Aen.

If Aen had a chance he would want to ask her how exactly she was capable of employing that magic like ability into her fighting. He would have to guess that this was probably a demonstration of semblance though, he had yet to see one and given how this was the first time he had seen such a peculiar occurrence, it made sense that it would be one. However Aen was still unclear of what semblance was, he had learned little from Aesir's mind transfer as he had little a clue of what it was as well.

He had hoped to learn more from Danny when they talked on the boat before leaving, but even then it was still a small amount. It made him realize just how little he knew of this new time, there was much to learn and much to be explored, he was sure that Aesir was salivating at the thought.

Actually, what was Aesir doing? Aen knew that when he had last talked to him he was focused on studying that weapon, Aen wondered how the progress was coming. He was sure he had figured out its workings by now, but doubted his ability to recreate it for Aen. It was a while ago when he talked to Aesir, the last time being just before he left for Vale, Aen had not been keeping track of time but he was sure it had been well over a week since they had last been in contact.

He would have to contact him as soon as he could, hopefully after he had talked with Ozpin, assuming all things went well.

Soon after Aen had finished his thoughts, the airship jerked forward and then stopped it's moving. The sudden movement had caused Aen's sense of balance to become confused, but thankfully had done no more than that.

Aen looked about, what had just happened? His confusion soon turned to worry as his mind ran wild depicting all of the outcomes that could have been happening, however his worries settled when he looked out the window.

The ship had just landed, it was not crashing, nothing had failed, it just landed. Aen couldn't determine just why that ship made him so excitable, he trusted it to work according to its intended use, or was he just telling himself that.

Aen's attention was then brought towards the area where he had entered, he could see the ramp beginning to lower in a fashion similar to that of a castle drawbridge. It slowly came to a stop as it made contact with the ground allowing Aen a chance to step off of the disorientating ship.

It had appeared that his attempts distracting himself from the ships movements had worked. While he had still not lost all feelings of misbalance or disorientation it still held a presence in the back of his mind, though it was small and did little to affect him directly.

He just hoped that when he exited the ship that his senses would return to him, so with noticeable haste Aen walked towards the exit, not wanting to overstay his long expired welcome.

When Aen stepped off the ship he was greeted with possibly one of the most beautiful sights he had seen so far. The ship could not have chosen a better place to land, it had put Aen directly in front of the academy allowing him to finally take in all of its details from close up. What once seemed small from the air now looked larger than ever, the pointed towers and buttresses now toward high above him in the expanses of the interconnecting buildings.

Not to mention the entrance to the academy, it was beyond extravagant. The grass trimmed to a perfect level, hedges lining the walkways acting as a brilliant path marker, the trees surrounding the complex maze of stone structures just outside were all grown to a similar height, their leaves trimmed identically. However they were able to grow the trees so similar to the last was a perplexing thought, but Aen cared not as the beauty was what had enraptured him.

Even in the night the building still seemed to shine brightly, the lights illuminating the elegant building didn't fail to bring out a whole new beauty. Aen would have to guess that building was just as beautiful in the times of day as it was at night, if not than possibly more so.

Aen began to take his first steps forward before he had experienced an epiphany, he hadn't the slightest clue where he needed to go. He was confident he could figure out where he needed to go given enough time, but he didn't have much time to spare, if what the headmaster had to tell him truly was important than it would be within his best interest to be present as soon as he could.

Aen looked around, hoping to find the two sisters in the immediate area, surely they would know the building well. Aen felt his heart jump when he caught sight of the two girls walking towards the building all while being accompanied by their two other teammates, he rushed towards them.

Before long Aen had encroached upon the group of girls and they had turned to greet him, all sending a welcoming gesture or look, all except Weiss, who he had learned was named earlier into the night.

Weiss's look was condescending, yet not rude, it was as if her eyes tested Aen's own, looking for any moral weaknesses or slip of the tongue that could possibly put her above him.

Aen ignored the look however and turned his attention to Yang, she had been the friendliest of the group when they had met.

"Pardon my intrusion" Aen began, "But could you tell me where I would need to go to talk to the headmaster?" He asked.

"Sure thing!" Yang smiled. "You see that huge ass tower right there" She pointed directly towards the center tower of the academy, "Head right towards that and you'll be able to talk to him if they let you through." Aen couldn't tell if the girl was being sarcastic or not, but he still took the information with truth, he hadn't another lead anyway.

Aen expressed his thanks and walked ahead, hoping to make his way to the headmaster's tower, what a fitting place to put a headmaster.

-S-

It had not taken Aen long to find his way to the tower entrance, though he still had small amounts of trouble navigating the halls to find it, he still had found it within a timely manner.

When he had entered through the doors at the base of the tower he had been greeted with a relatively spacious room filled with comfy seating and small tables to rest your feet on, had Aen not needed to be in at the top right away, he wouldn't have minded sitting down and relaxing. The room was awfully cozy and had what he had assumed was the school symbol emblazoned on almost everything in the room, from the small pillows on the seats to the desk that sat across the room from him.

Behind that desk was a blonde haired woman working away at something unseen, presumably papers with the way she moved her hands and eyes about. She must have been very engrossed with her work as she had not taken notice of Aen even as he had entered through the door and walked towards her desk, she only did take notice of him when he was only a mere few feet away. When she lifted her head she expressed slight surprise but as quickly as it had arrived it dispersed, her face then filled with an expectant look instead.

She pushed her small glasses further up the bridge of her nose and spoke, "I presume you are Aen?" She questioned.

Her voice was highly demanding and Aen couldn't ignore the fact that this woman seemed to hold an air of authority about her, she sat with her back straight and her shoulders back, showcasing proper posture, and indirectly showcasing authority.

After hearing her speak Aen felt that he needed to answer immediately after, something about this woman just made her seem very... superior, for lack of a better term. Following this realization, Aen responded to her quickly after she had asked the question, for some unwarranted reason he felt that if he didn't she would do something to punish him, Aen would be lying if he said that the woman was mildly intimidating, yet he couldn't put down a reason why.

"Yes you are correct, I presume that you have been expecting my arrival?" He questioned, not wanting to lose any amounts of formality in front of this lady or the headmaster.

She stood from her seat grabbing a riding crop out from underneath the desk. Gods... what did she need that for Aen wondered.

What lady carried about a riding crop within a school, what would she even need it for? Aen didn't get much time to think about the peculiar and unnerving fact however, as the lady had spoken as soon as she had stood.

"Come with me, Ozpin's been waiting for you." She spoke vaguely and demandingly.

Aen followed, his suspicions about what could be happening only increasing as the two approached a reflective steel door. Once they had reached the steel door the woman pressed a button on the wall next to the door and waited, Aen was slightly confused for a short moment, but his confusion then turned to surprise once the door opened without a touch. Self-opening doors?

That was strange, but what was stranger was that behind the door was only an empty room which the lady stepped into, gesturing for Aen to follow. With slight hesitation Aen stepped into the enclosed room, trusting that it wasn't a trap, surely the lady wouldn't also get in if it was.

Once Aen had stepped into the cramped space he looked around, studying all of the nothingness that was inside the small room, why had the lady brought him into this room there wasn't a thing in it.

Aen was about to speak up before the door closed on its own and the room immediately lurched upwards, catching Aen off guard as it did so. He flinched when the movement took place, and was met with a judging glance from the woman next to him, Aen was horribly confused, what had just happened?

He didn't even get to fully consider the thought before the door opened back up revealing Aen to be in a different room than where they had been before.

"What?" Aen muttered to himself silently in confusion.

Once the lady had stepped out he followed after her and once he had exited the room came to the realization that he was at the top of the tower that he had seen from outside.

Aen continued to follow after the woman before she stopped in front of a solitary desk with one member sitting in a chair behind it. Aen studied him, his gray hair and small spectacles made him seem old, but his face spoke otherwise, he seemed middle aged at best.

It appeared that Ozpin was studying Aen as well and silence reigned over the three members before Ozpin broke the silence.

"Well... Aen Connell, is it?"

 **-S-**

 **I'm back! And once again I'm sorry for the wait, I know that I'm a slow uploader and tons of authors upload way faster than me, but hey you're getting chapters at least! I hope that this was a good chapter, although I'm not sure how good I can make a dialogue heavy chapter, it may come across as disappointing that you guys didn't get any real action in this chapter, but I trust you guys enough to get the idea that these chapters are needed if I want to progress the story.**

 **Also, I hate myself for trolling you guys so hard by leaving it on a cliffhanger directly before Aen talks with Ozpin, I know that this particular chapter can prove to be some one of the most interesting ones in a fic and I hate myself for leaving it out. I just thought it would be better to split the chapters, but that could just be me being lazy, If you wanna something to blame for this cliffhanger, blame my laziness.**

 **So here's some review responses for all of you.**

 **Review from AKS-784 - "And now he's met RWBY. The inevitable talk with Ozpin should prove to be extremely interesting. I've gotta say, I'm really excited to see how the story will progress from here, and I know it'll be awhile, but I'm curious to see how the various students at Beacon react when they discover Aen's true identity. Keep up the good work!"**

 **Response - First off, thanks a lot man for the positivity, you have no idea how much it means to me, that's what really keeps me motivated. Also, I feel really bad for skimping out on you and cutting out the Ozpin talk, I know how interesting that can be. Also, you might be in for a surprise.**

 **Review from Bankerrtk01 - "Well they meet...some what and yea I can tell fun at beacon I definitely will continue to read this, you've done good so far keep it up ps don't burn your bread"**

 **Response - Yeah I know that the meet up in the last chapter was kinda lackluster, but hopefully this one will be a bit better for you. Just keep reading and you'll be getting even more interactions between the two! Don't worry I won't burn my bread.**

 **Anyways guys, thanks again for the support, next chapter comes out whenever I get around to it, could be soon, could be late, who knows nowadays?**

 **-Stay Toasty, From Loasty Of The Toasty**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Deathly greeting

Aen's eyes squinted, how could this man possibly know his name, they had never met prior and had not even heard mention of each other. There was no possible way this man could know his name, let alone his last name, he hadn't told anyone during this time his last name.

Aen couldn't surmise an explanation, there was no possible way this man could know his name, yet he knew it anyway. Aen looked the man over once more with visible caution, there was no telling what this man was capable of given that he was the leader of an academy dedicated to training fighters.

His attire had gone unnoticed to Aen before and now that he studied it he could see the air of formality it projected upon the room. However Aen was more focused on the man's face, that's where he would discover most.

Aen didn't miss the way Ozpin's eyes flicked about occasionally, breaking eye contact for the slightest moment to study a feature of Aen's, the way his finger ever so slightly twitched spoke of his readiness to fight, though no weapon was visible aside from the cane propped carefully up against his desk. Those were not the only signs he had picked up however, the way the man held his hand round the grip of his mug exhibited false lax, and the way he occasionally pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose revealed how he attempted to hide his eyes behind them so that he could study Aen more without his eyes being watched.

Aen hadn't missed these small details, but he was sure that Ozpin had noticed many small details of his own, maybe it was the way Aen stood deathly still, or how no breathing could be heard, or maybe even the holes in his armor that allowed only the most perceptive person to view his exposed ribs. Aen doubted his appearance was well hidden to this man, nevertheless though he spoke first in an attempt to remove the man from his studying.

"And you are Ozpin" Aen spoke slowly, breaking the silence that had found it's welcome around their conversation.

Ozpin smiled, although not genuine, Aen could tell it apart from a genuine smile.

"Yes, please, be seated. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." He spoke welcomingly, gesturing to the empty chair before him in the process.

Aen stood still for the briefest moment, considering whether or not it was wise to sit, seeing no downside to doing so however, Aen stepped forward and sat in the chair.

The chair he sat in was fairly plain, which was an extreme contrast from Ozpin's own intricately designed chair, which Aen noted with unseen discomfort, vaguely reminded him of a spider with which the way the legs stood out at awkward angles. Aen couldn't tell if the man adored the flair the chair gave off, or rather worked with a theme, though Aen knew little of the man he was confident that he wasn't one for flair.

Without speaking a word Ozpin reached forward towards his scroll and activated it, bringing up several pictures of the faces of men who were unknown to Aen. Silently Ozpin pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and looked up sternly, showing no emotion in his face which all too closely resembled a blank slate.

Just as Aen was about to ask a question, Ozpin spoke up, his monotone voice breaking the silence that had once again returned to the room.

"Several weeks ago, reports from a Vacuo defense node described an unknown figure escaping into the sewers. One camera feed picked up only briefly an armored man."

Aen's missing heart had stopped, he knew his infiltration was far from perfection, but he was at least confident that he had gone mostly unidentifiable. If they had records of his infiltration then they could possibly have more records of his doings in Vacuo, which unfortunately were far from being pure.

Not allowing Aen a moment to consider his actions however Ozpin continued to speak.

"One traffic camera picked up a man wearing similar armor to the one identified earlier in the day. This man was seen walking with a young boy before he once again fell off the radar."

Aen's adrenaline was beginning to pump, he hadn't known he was this sloppy in his infiltration, perhaps if he had no armor that made him stand out than it would have been executed smoother. Then again, he had no choice when it came to wearing his armor, it was as helpful as it was noticeable.

Ozpin turned his scroll around, facing it towards Aen and allowing him to study the faces of the men shown on the device. Aen thought that he may have recognized the faces, but he couldn't put a name to them, they somehow seemed so familiar though.

Ozpin gestured to the faces with an air of ambiguity surrounding his every move, however despite Aen's lack of knowledge on the man he still kept a cool air about himself. The more calm he seemed, the less likely it would be for Ozpin to pick up his mild distress, he couldn't see his face so Aen already had an advantage in that sense, yet body language could still give him away. So he sat stone still.

"Later that night three men were found dead in an alleyway near the Vacuo shipping docks." He gestured to his throat. "One suffered an extreme laceration to his jugular, one other suffered a similar laceration located across the gut." He then gestured towards his gut. "The strike had torn apart the small and large intestine, ultimately leading to a death of blood loss."

Aen knew exactly what he was talking about yet he kept a stern expression, the men he had killed in the alleyway in Vacuo in order to find the CFS headquarters. He had known that the bodies would be discovered but he had not expected the problems to follow him all the way to Vale, this time was much more capable of tracing back a murderer, which was much to Aen's misfortune.

As much as he knew that what he was doing was inhumane, it was justified, though others may not understand his reasoning, if they knew what their deaths meant, then they would surely understand. What Aen was doing was a great favor for the world, but he could not yet make that known. It put him in quite a compromising position.

"The third was found dead alongside the other two with a large gash starting from the right side of his ribcage to his sternum. And the last body was found when a civilian reported a body floating in the water off the docks. When recovered the man was revealed to have been stabbed through the left lung, compromising his ability to breath."

Aen would have cringed were he not the one responsible for the deaths of the CFS members. He doubted that they hadn't found the CFS headquarters as well, surely that was a gruesome sight for the authorities.

Aen would have liked to say he felt guilty, but sadly he had not, what he had to do was just. While there may have been other workarounds, he knew that they would take time to pull off, and while he did have a seemingly large amount of time to complete his task, he couldn't waste time attempting to pull off such feats.

Ozpin turned off his scroll, allowing the pictures of the men to disappear from Aen's view, bringing Aen's full attention to Ozpin himself.

"All four wounds were identified to be sword wounds." Aen didn't miss the sparing glance Ozpin had directed towards his sword, and he doubted it was unintentional.

"Now that's certainly not all, but in the effort not to waste time, I would like to ask you a question, and I think we both know what the answer is." Ozpin's face had done little to show emotion, but Aen could not detect any anger in the way he spoke or acted. There were no facial or emotional signs that showcased any anger, so either this man was impeccable at hiding his emotions, or he truly showed no emotion at all.

Yet Aen did not believe that he was capable of doing such things, every person in the world showcased emotions somehow, whether it be the way they talk or act. Aen had been able to detect some of those signs prior to the beginning of their talk, and he could still faintly pick up some signs of emotion that faintly lingered around Ozpin's being.

The way he stayed emotionless, while a good way to hide emotions, still showed one emotion. Seriousness, Ozpin was serious, but he was not angry, there wasn't a sign that would have suggested he was.

Ozpin relaxed into his chair, allowing his shoulders to slump just slightly as he picked up his mug of coffee, "Was this you?" He asked, getting directly to the point that Aen knew already.

Aen considered answering carefully, he ran through many answers he could have responded with if he wanted to openly lie, yet he didn't feel the need to lie. If he attempted to lie he would surely be caught, they had somehow gathered enough evidence to know enough about him to tell when he lied, there was no way around this.

Aen would have to tell him the truth.

Yet, that might not entirely be bad. The people he had killed were in no way good people, they had worked for the CFS and very little of them had shown any positive traits, he just hoped that none had been misunderstood, as was Danny. Yet, he had still killed, that was not a fact he could change.

However, there was also the thought of wether or not this man was the only one who knew about his involvement, with the exception of the blonde haired woman. No one actually did know he was the one that did it beside Rex and Danny, but then again, there was enough evidence that pointed towards it being him.

This brought up another thought though, was Ozpin the only one with this evidence? He did say that Vacuo surveillance had picked this up and that the bodies were reported to the Vacuo authorities, but was he the only one putting this evidence to use? The Vacuo authorities appeared to have done little in the way of finding him, or at least that's what Aen inferred, but they had been unable to find him until Ozpin joined the fray. So were they really after him, or was Ozpin the only one to step up? After all, what he had done was not all that bad for the Vacuo authorities, if anything he had done them a favor.

So what Aen really needed to know is what Ozpin was going to do with this information. He could only find this out by asking, he had no clue of this man's motives, whether they were of justice or not he did not know.

"Before I answer that" Aen began after a short bout of silence that had birthed some tangible tension.

"I would like to know one thing." He stated, posing a sort of impromptu deal to him.

"And that would be?" Ozpin responded indifferently.

Aen looked closely at Ozpin, "What are you going to do with this information. What do you intend to do?" He asked seriously, the answer to this question would decide his response for him.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug, allowing his glasses to fog just slightly. He seemed to contemplate an answer before speaking, and when he did speak he wore a faint smile on his lips.

"That all depends. What did you intend to do?" He spoke cryptically.

Aen internally frowned, he had found himself in between a rock and a hard place.

Both of them knew that there was no denying Aen was the culprit, but what Ozpin did with this information depended on how Aen was to respond. Telling him his intentions would possibly reveal himself, which wasn't entirely bad, but it wasn't on the terms Aen had wished. If he did not tell him his intentions, there was no telling what Ozpin would do, it could possibly turn out beneficial but the chances of that happening were too slim for Aen to trust on a whim.

Aen sighed, he knew now that he had no other choice than to tell him, his fate would be left in Ozpin's hands, and hopefully his judgment would be as fair as a god's.

"Well then, you certainly have an interesting way of ratting out a criminal." Aen spoke with absolution, he had to admit, but hopefully, Ozpin would listen to his reasonings.

"Yes. It was me" Aen spoke, confirming a fact.

"But I want to know something about you in return." Aen continued, looking directly into the eyes of Ozpin, showcasing his own glowing orbs for Ozpin to see.

"Do you value this world?" He questioned.

Ozpin seemed taken back by Aen's sudden removal of the topic at hand, but he seemed to accept this as his reasoning.

"While there are certainly some deplorable acts that take place within this world, I still consider this place my home. So yes, I do value this world, as it is my home." Ozpin responded.

"And how willing are you to defend your home?" Aen asked. He needed to know Ozpin's resolve and dedication.

"If you have forgotten, My work centers around preserving my home. So you can imagine that I am quite willing to defend it at a moments notice, and if it means my life for the preservation of thousands, than I am willing to give it." He responded. This had been enough for Aen to unveil Ozpin's dedication to this world.

"Then I trust you."

This was the biggest whim Aen could possibly be going on right about now, but he hadn't another choice, lest he risked losing all of the progress he had made up to this point. The lives of many people depended on Ozpin's judgement, and Aen hoped he wasn't wrong in putting his trust in him.

Aen pulled his hand up from his lap and began to undo the leather straps that held his gauntlet in place on his hand. With each leather strap unbound, Aen's mislaid heart pounded harder. When he had found himself undoing the last strap, he hesitated, this was a big movement, yet he didn't know what held him back.

Was it fear? Fear of rejection, or was it a fear of inability? Or perhaps maybe it was his own pride that prevented him from doing so. Did he not want to accept that what he now was is an outlier to society, or did he not want to face being ostracized? Aen knew that he would have to end up doing this eventually, and Aesir obviously had done little to object, so then what was it that held him back?

Aen sighed, he reprimanded his own inability and pulled the gauntlet free, holding his skeletal hand up for Ozpin and the woman to see.

Aen had not missed the way the woman's eyes widened, whether it was in fear or confusion though had perplexed Aen.

Yet, strangely enough, Ozpin only looked on curiously and not with any showcased surprise or horror. What he was showing was a reaction Aen had expected from the man, not one of immediate horror or surprise, but one of curiosity and suspicion, he had only shown his hand after all.

Though Aen had only shown his hand he had thought it would be a small insight into his truth. What he was about to tell Ozpin required evidence, and having no other evidence to support his outlandish claims, his own body would have to do.

Before Aen would continue though, he left the room in silence, allowing Ozpin and the woman time to study his hand, it would be crucial that they understand.

"You're hand," Ozpin spoke slowly with confusion. "It's a... prosthetic?" He questioned, with clear amounts of dubiety in his tone.

Aen moved his fingers about and studied his own hand as closely as Ozpin had, the bones all came together and had somehow held themselves together without any muscles or skin to hold them in place. The more Aen had studied it, the more he had become aware that he knew very little of his new body, Aen would have to admit how strange it was to watch his rotted bones move with nothing to guide them.

"No" Aen responded.

"As much as I would like to consider it a prosthetic, I know that is not truth." He continued.

"What you see is not a prosthetic, but my bare hand." He twisted his wrist, showing the gap in between his radius and ulna and even showing to Ozpin the back of his hand, and all of its unnatural movements.

Ozpin viewed the hand with visible amounts inquisitiveness, looking over every aspect of the hand and wrist. The way the bones had seemingly 'melded' together to allow them to work without the use of muscles was what had seemed to enrapture Ozpin the most, as it had done to Aen. Both seemed to know little of Aen's body.

"So, that is bone? Not a metal or a recreation of a bone's structure?" Ozpin questioned with disbelief despite the evidence placed right before him.

Rather than responding right away, Aen had placed his hand down onto the table for Ozpin to study closer, to which Ozpin wasted little time. He directed his gaze towards the skeletal hand and once again looked over every aspect of it, as if what he was seeing was only a fabrication of his own mind.

"Yes. This is bone, and as hard as it is to believe, my hand is made of it." Aen responded, confirming what Ozpin had inquired about so curiously.

"To put this as simply as possible." Aen began, "My hand is essentially the result of what a human hand would look like without flesh or muscle."

Ozpin had chosen not to respond to Aen, or remark, instead he just looked on attentively, clearly waiting for some elaboration from Aen. Seeing this, Aen had decided that he would need to enlighten Ozpin on his current situation, yet how he would approach it without the execution seeming so unbelievable was a predicament that Aen had uncovered. So rather than attempting to skirt around the topic, Aen would attempt to cut directly to the point in a fashion that he would hope to be understandable.

"I will not glorify my situation. To put it as bluntly and as simply as I can, I am dead." Aen stated with the bluntness of a soldier's club, eliciting a surprised response from Ozpin.

Yet, Ozpin did not make his reactions know fully, a surprised response from him would be only a raised brow. Whereas the surprised response of the woman standing to his side would be a dumbfounded look of obvious disbelief, a far more sensible reaction.

The woman at Ozpin's side seemed to have finally thought it appropriate to intervene and with proper regards to the headmaster, she expressed her thoughts with little restrictions.

"Pardon my interruption headmaster. But do you know just how ludicrous these man's claims are?!" She yelled, trying to talk some sense into the headmaster where it was due, and Aen would be lying if he said that the woman didn't have a point.

What she was saying was completely reasonable to Aen, and this was the overall reaction that he had expected from the beginning. His claims were completely ludicrous and he was fully aware of it, but these were not claims, they were facts, and they are facts that can be reinforced. If anything though, this woman's response was fully justified.

"He walks in and claims to be dead! Do you know how outlandish that sounds, a dead man is a dead man! That is that!" The woman persisted, trying her best to show the situation in a different light than what was presented.

Yet Aen greatly thanked Ozpin's open-mindedness, were it not for his mentality of understanding, Aen doubted that he would be getting any help or a nice response from this man.

"Glynda." Ozpin began, addressing the woman with a tone that spoke of authority, but not abused authority.

"I can understand your reasoning and I can agree in saying that this is a topic that is hard to believe." He started.

"But you need to see the story from this man's view as well. There is no denying that this man's hand is made of pure bone, it is here in front of us and I can clearly tell that is bone." He continued.

"However, there is still nothing to tell us that you are dead, whether or not your hand is bone. No human can live without working organs and muscles, yet here you are claiming to be dead and using those very muscles and organs to speak to us." Ozpin spoke, allowing Aen some insight on his thinking and standing on this point.

Aen had known that he had perhaps worded it incorrectly but he could not see another way to put it, the way he saw it, he was dead. Yet this man had provided Aen details that would suggest otherwise, with the mention of organs, and the entire idea of, 'if your moving and talking, then you're alive'.

However, Aen was beginning to get the impression that this man was thinking that only his hand was how it was, hence him thinking that he had organs, which he in fact, did not have.

"I can understand your mistrust. Perhaps I may have worded it incorrectly in saying that I was 'dead'" He stated apologetically, hoping to clarify what he had intended.

"I suppose saying that I am dead is too broad of a statement, perhaps it would be more fitting if I said that I didn't have anything to suggest me being 'alive.' So to speak." He added, to which Ozpin responded with another confused glare.

"So you mean to tell me that you have no organs in your body? And I take it that you're telling me that the rest of your body is like your hand?" Ozpin gestured to Aen's hand and wrist with an upturned palm, pointing things out with a tone of disbelief.

"I don't mean to rudely discredit your assertions, but I find that hard to believe." Ozpin stated indifferently.

Aen released an ineffectual sigh, an action that would suggest that he had organs, yet also an action that was a surprisingly accurate mimic. His hand would not be nearly enough evidence and Aen had thought that much.

He would need to provide some more 'evidence'

With his one armored hand and other unarmored one, Aen reached up towards his helmet, grasping the edges of it. While he could not feel the smooth texture of his helmet he still knew it was there, and he knew that removing it would reveal an undoubtedly dubious sight.

With a slow motion Aen had pulled his helmet free, dipping his head down to allow himself to slide it off carefully, and in the process, only showing his head to the two.

Mustering up the unwarranted courage, Aen lifted his head to face the two interrogators, showing to them his rotted skull. His sunken eyes would have been completely shadowed were it not for the dull glow of his two oppositely colored orbs that had acted as eyes. Unlike his eyes however, the place where his nose would have previously found itself was now only a shadowed crevice in his face. The absent sun and dim lighting had done little to make his face any prettier, the features of his rotted skull only became more apparent as the lights cast shadows over parts of his skull making it an even more sinister image than it already was. All of the combined efforts to paint him in a bad light had all led up to his eyes being the most prominent feature of his face. The dull glow of the orbs only barely lit up the sockets they found themselves in, giving them the appearance of a floating light in the darkness. Worst yet was that the orbs were hardly warming or welcoming, rather they were only small dots upon a black canvas.

His appearance was hardly a sight to behold in terms of pleasantries, yet one to be beheld in terms of its unique nature. Ozpin's reaction, while hardly what he was expecting, was certainly befitting of the man. Rather than allowing a gasp to escape his lips and recoil in disgust like his blonde haired secretary, Aen had only taken notice of the way he had straightened up and how his hand had ever so slightly moved closer to his cane. Aside from his widened eyes and slightly creased brows, he had again shown little emotion in his face, an intimidating sight indirectly.

"And the rest of your body is like that?" Ozpin questioned calmly, which completely contradicted the look on Glynda's face. It was amazing how Ozpin was able to keep a calm face about him when he quite literally looked directly into the face of a dead man.

Aen chuckled softly to himself, a more guttural action than anything else, "Yes, it is, and I'm sure it's certainly a disturbing sight." He remarked.

Before Ozpin could speak however Glynda had spoken up in his place, thankfully not as rudely as she had before, however, still ill-mannered, "Yes it is a disturbing sight! Now how can that even be possible?" She questioned. "Have you seen your face at all?!" She added at the end.

Ozpin gestured for the woman to calm down with a dismissive wave of his hand and in a more kind manner addressed Aen's appearance, "I won't lie in saying that is not a disturbing sight, but what I find more interesting is how you are living as a whole."

This was a question Aen knew was coming, but sadly it was one he hardly knew how to answer. He knew very little of himself and his workings, he was almost just as much in the dark as Ozpin was, Aen was sure that perhaps Aesir knew more of his functioning yet he couldn't contact him now.

"I know only the basics, in all honesty, I'm not so sure of my workings. They are as much of an enigma to me as they are to you." Aen knew that probably wasn't what Ozpin wanted to here, and it wasn't what Aen really wanted to hear either. Hopefully his lack of knowledge wouldn't do much to discredit his claims as a whole, he was already walking a narrow path, even with his appearance.

"Well Aen," Ozpin responded. "This clears up a few things for me, but there is one thing left unanswered that would surely clear much up." He began.

"How old are you exactly?" He questioned.

This was a question Aen could hardly answer but hopefully he could answer with a close estimate as to his age, after all he was in a comatose state for most of the time he was sealed in purgatory.

"That is a questioned that is not answered easily. I have been... gone so to speak, for a duration that is better left uncountable." He stated.

"Yet when I 'Lived' I lived within a civilized world, it had it's ups and downs but it was mostly civilized. However certain circumstances all lead up to what I have now become, yet I feel as if I have changed little." Aen concluded rather vaguely. His response hardly answered any questions that Ozpin may have been hoping to have fulfilled, but Aen knew little of how to explain it himself. To speak truth, Aen was becoming increasingly aware of just how little he knew of himself, up until now he had been blindly following orders and so far everything had worked mostly in his favor. Yet now Aen found himself in a position where he knew little.

"I see... Do any of these 'circumstances' involve a war?" Ozpin questioned, surprising Aen with a fact.

Aen's eyes squinted, something wasn't right, this man had somehow known his last name, a fact that Aen had dismissed up until now, and now he somehow knew about the war fought against the demons? The fact that he knew this much information was unnerving and it worried Aen immensely that he did not know where it was he was getting this information from.

"Of sorts" Aen responded shortly, trying to avoid giving away information that this man probably already knew, if anything this response was a test, a test to see just how much Ozpin knew.

Rather than the question Aen had expected, he instead got a short sigh from Ozpin in response, "I suppose that there is no need to hide these things anymore." Ozpin spoke.

He reached down into a compartment in his desk and before pulling free whatever he meant to pull free, he spoke. "Aen it may not come as a surprise, but I know more about you than I let on to believe." He pulled free a tattered leather-bound journal complete with wrinkles and stains to match the look. "Or maybe it's more fitting to say I know more about who you used to be." He placed the journal down on the table and Aen had immediately recognized what he was showing him. Aen looked the journal over briefly, hoping to find something that could possibly set it apart from his own journal, however, to his dismay he was worried to find that it was his.

Aen looked at Ozpin, "Where did you find this?" He asked seriously. If objects like these still were around then that could mean that other relics from the past could still possibly be here in this time. If a journal could survive however many years it had, and still remain readable, then what would stop other objects from his time from following suit, however it seemed unlikely that his journal was capable of surviving for so long, he hardly kept good care of it when he still used it. Maybe someone had made an effort to preserve it, but that brought up the question of who had made that effort, Aen's best guess would have to be Seraphim, but why would he care for Aen's journal? This was creating more questions than it was answers.

"After returning from a mission a student of mine returned with this in hand. He said that he found it within some old ruins within the depths of Forever Fall" Ozpin responded blatantly supplying Aen with a commendable amount of information that would surely prove useful for investigation.

"Forever Fall?" Aen questioned, he had information that was useful, yet he was still lacking common knowledge of the area.

Ozpin smiled deviously to himself, "You certainly aren't from this time are you? Forever Fall is a forest that lies just north of Beacon, we commonly make trips to the forest to train the students yet we never venture far in, most of it is uncharted." Ozpin spoke.

What Ozpin was sharing was invaluable information, this could prove to be beyond useful to Aen. If they were able to find Aen's journal within a ruin, Aen was sure that he could find something more given enough time, perhaps even traces of Seraphim's whereabouts.

"That is quite useful information. However, how much of that did you read?" Aen spoke, attempting to put the conversation back on track.

"I read most of it, though I had skipped about looking for the most important pieces. I can say that you were quite the soldier." Ozpin complimented, although not genuinely, it was more of a display of his knowledge rather than an appraisal of his skill.

"So you've read most of it then?" Aen spoke indifferently.

Finding slight amusement in Aen's response Ozpin smiled, allowing the corners of his mouth to be pulled up just slightly in response. "I guess I have, but back to the topic at hand. Though in terms of intelligence of each other our information is skewed, however we both are even in not knowing each other's motives." Ozpin spoke, attempting to bring the conversation back to a more reasonable topic.

"That is true, and unfortunately I have very little options in terms of my own situation. My motives may be as unbelievable as my appearance, however I hope that you can trust my claims." Aen spoke seriously, attempting to clarify his situation slightly to allow Ozpin some forewarning. However, just as she had before, Glynda had spoken up in place of Ozpin, acting once again as a not unneeded voice of reason.

"Ozpin, Sir. I please recommend that you do not trust these man's claims, though his appearance may be convincing I highly doubt that what he is about to say is true. Every thing he has said up to this point has only been unreasonable, surely you have realized that these claims are beyond ridiculous!?" She outraged, attempting to her fullest to speak any amount of reason into Ozpin.

"Glynda," Ozpin spoke slowly, with a slight sigh accompanying his speech.

"I would find it best if you returned to your office. While what you are saying is not entirely unethical, it is annoying, so I would please ask that you would return to your office." Aen found some amount of amusement in the way that Ozpin had spoken to Glynda, it was even more amusing to see her shocked expression afterward, she looked taken back by Ozpin's blatant disregard for her input. Aen even held back a chuckle as the woman walked past him with a glare before disappearing into the elevator.

"Now, with that out of the way, how about we clear some things up?" Ozpin spoke with a warming smile which was barely even noticeable by any observing watcher.

It seemed that Ozpin's mood had lifted ever so slightly with the absence of the secretary, the air around them now even seemed less tense. Ozpin was hardly the one holding the tension as Aen thought he was, rather it was Glynda who was making the room so tense with her constant leering and malicious gazes. Aen was unable to determine what had driven the woman to such hate either, whether it was hate or perhaps just pure disbelief, whatever it was that had driven her to anger remained unknown to Aen, and even partially so to Ozpin.

"As you probably know, I pride myself on protecting this city and its inhabitants. No matter the threat I feel obligated to protect those that cannot, surely you can understand this?" Ozpin spoke, beginning a hopefully fruitful exchange of known information.

"I can understand what you say just enough. You're motives are different from mine, however, whereas you lake the needed scenario, I do not." Aen responded.

"And that scenario?" Ozpin questioned briefly.

"As you have already heard, whether or not you believe it that is, I'm not from this 'time' so to speak. And I can tell you that I'm not the only one who is displaced in time." Aen spoke, referencing Seraphim in the process, though Ozpin didn't know the name.

"Before I... 'died' I was on a mission, and regrettably I failed my mission, however, don't take that as a lack of qualification, I can assure you that I am every bit qualified. Unfortunately... my enemy was more qualified." Aen spoke, leaving trace amounts of shame in his speech, he hadn't let go of his defeat. It was as crushing morally as it was physically.

"Who is this 'enemy' of yours? Though I do not the extent of your skill, I will take it that he is a strong combatant." Ozpin spoke, thankfully giving Aen the benefit of the doubt, a much needed patch to his pride.

"When you read my journal did you come across any mention of demons?" Aen asked, if he had this would make for an easier explanation.

"Yes, I did. However, I had avoided taking their meaning with any legitimacy, I had interpreted their meaning as more of a derogatory term." Ozpin responded.

"Well, this is may be sudden, but that is no derogatory term nor slang. It is as legitimate as I state it." Aen spoke blatantly, to which Ozpin responded with a placid expression, presumably he was not taking that claim with any backing, unfortunately to Aen.

"Tell me Aen. Were these 'demons' covered with black fur? Did they have any exterior carapaces or armor made of bone?" Ozpin questioned, trying to connect any details from his time to Aen's.

"No" Aen replied. "Are you describing the Grimm? If so I can tell you that the demons from my time bare little resemblance to the Grimm." Aen had caught on to what Ozpin was describing, yet he had already had a run in with the Grimm, and their looks and abilities bore very little resemblance to what he recollected. Yet, from what he knew they seemed to bare a similar motive, something that could possibly be a linking a factor.

Ozpin thought for a moment, as evident by his closed eyes and creased brow. He had now shown some visible emotion, he was in deep thought, presumably he was trying to connect some details. Deciding to add his own knowledge into their collective learning moment, Aen spoke up.

"Although the demons of my time bear little physical resemblance, they seem to have similar motives. I am unsure if this can connect them in any way but it's something to base our assertions on."

"It's useful information, but we cannot use it to it's fullest just yet." Ozpin responded "Especially when I don't know if you speak truth." Ozpin added on, reminding Aen with the reality of the situation. He couldn't expect this man to trust him fully without some convincing aside from his appearance, especially considering this man's position in the world.

"You speak an unfortunate truth, as much as I would like your trust, I know that it is not easily obtained." Aen spoke, relapsing himself with a bit of reality.

"Wise words. However, your motives are still unclear to me." Ozpin spoke reminding him of their focus, which was bound to have gone off track.

"True," Aen responded shortly.

"The enemy I spoke of, his name is Seraphim. I don't know his exact 'ranking' but I think he's an archdemon. If that means anything to you." Aen spoke, disclosing Seraphim's name to Ozpin.

"Seraphim?" Ozpin question, testing the name as he spoke it.

"That is an odd name for a demon" Ozpin spoke, surprising Aen just slightly. He had known that the name was a foreign one, even for him. Yet, it hadn't struck him as weird, if anything the name had seemed fitting to the demon

"Why would you say it's strange" Aen questioned, perhaps it was mostly his own curiosity, but it could help to question more as well.

"You probably wouldn't know but our people are mostly an individualistic society, we focus more on our physical achievements rather than anything otherworldly. To put it simply, we are not a religious society." Ozpin spoke.

It didn't come as a surprise to Aen that this society was not religious, it would certainly explain the lack of gods and their worship, which had found itself to be common practice back in Aen's time. It was strange for Aen to think of a world without religion, all his life he had frivolously worshiped the gods and his prayers had not gone unnoticed, as evident by his armor. It was of little concern to Aen at the moment, despite his distaste for a non-religious world.

"However, before then our people had worshiped many religions in the past" Ozpin continued. "I say that name is strange because one of the most prevalent religions of the past centered their worship around a being called a Seraphim. The religion is still sparsely practiced today so if you desire to learn more I recommend that you speak with anyone more religiously versed than I."

Aen's glowing orbs dimmed, replicating a thinking expression. This made no sense, a religion that is still practiced to this day, which mainly worships a being called a Seraphim. Was that 'Seraphim' the one he knew? Or was it merely a coincidence? Aen had doubted the likelihood of a coincidence however.

Looking at the situation from Seraphim's warped point of view, it would make sense that he would establish a religion meant to worship him. After all greed was an insatiable drive, and Aen was sure that Seraphim wasn't short of just that, being the one to create a religion of self-worship was beyond avaricious. It seemed to fit Seraphim.

Not allowing his inner strife to direct the flow of their conversation, Aen responded impassively, attempting to keep the conversation within reasonable bounds.

"That is certainly... Interesting information." He spoke. "However, as unbelievable as you might find it, I can assure you that demons were very real, and unfortunately one may still walk today." Aen spoke, beginning to now disclose his motives, to which Ozpin sat silently, seemingly anticipating what it was Aen desired.

"I come to you because I need help." Aen spoke simply. "I need help finding this demon, and I need help destroying it." He looked Ozpin closely in the eyes, looking for any signs of neglectance or disbelief, the slightest sign. Yet, Ozpin's eyes had remained as ambiguous as ever.

"Trust me when I say that this is for the good of this world. I stand almost alone in this, and I know that who I have with me is not enough." He paused, taking a moment to select his words.

How he disclosed his motives would affect Ozpin's decision down to the slightest variables, mentioning that he had allies with him was a legitimacy to his statement as well, even though a tangible god may be a stretch for him. It mattered little however, as long as he could get his point across sounding realistic and unlike a madman's speech, then the easier he could acquire the assistance of the school.

"Ozpin" Aen spoke. "I ask for your help, it is your job to defend this world, and if you agree to help you will be defending it from a bigger threat than you may understand."

Aen sat quietly, waiting for any response from Ozpin, however, the room had only found itself once again filled an identifiable amount of tension. Each second that Ozpin spent in silence averting eye contact with Aen, drove a nail deeper and deeper into Aen's missing heart. He didn't even know if Ozpin understood the full gravity of the situation, his decision could possibly change the entire outcome of this world's existence.

Ozpin sighed, Aen didn't know if that was a good sign or a bad sign.

"Aen" Ozpin began with an apprehensive tone.

"As much as I would like to believe what you say, I find it hard to. Yes, your appearance I can believe, but I don't find it wise to blindly follow what you say with no credible evidence besides that. My hands are tied as they are, and adding even more complication to the mix would do me no good." He spoke, averting long periods of eye contact. It was clear this was a troubling topic to Ozpin and he didn't disagree out of disbelief but out of inability. It didn't make it any easier for Aen to accept however.

"Aen. I'm sorry, but I cannot help you without knowing for sure what you are saying is true. Your claims, while there is some credible evidence, I just ca-" Ozpin never finished his sentence though, as his attention was drawn directly towards a brightly shining light directly before the elevator. Its glow was like that of the sun and was blinding to look at, Aen's heart sank when he realized what was about to happen.

As the light dimmed to a bearable level a vague humanoid form could just be made out within the epicenter of the glow, and by the time the light had dimmed to a dull shimmer, the full form of Aesir could be made out by Ozpin and Aen.

Ozpin and Aen had both stood from there seated positions, yet both had done so for different reasons. Whereas Ozpin had stood to ready himself for a possible attack, Aen had stood so that he could confront the god who was clearly acting out of line.

"Aesir!" Aen yelled. "What in the world are you doing here! Why did you leave Elysium!" He outraged.

Aesir could possibly ruin the entire exchange by appearing now, sure Aen had failed to convince him, but it was clear that Ozpin was not acting entirely off his own interest. He could have had a chance to convince him furthermore had Aesir not appeared now, yet now that he had, he no longer had the chance to do so. What ever Aesir was attempting to do was unclear to Aen, it only appeared as a threat to Aen as well as Ozpin, Aen just hoped that Aesir was in his right mind.

Aesir stood to his fullest and walked forwards, coming to stop next to Aen, standing a full head taller than him with his golden crown placed upon his bald head. He wore a smile on his face, yet it wasn't one that could be easily misunderstood as mischievous one, rather it was warming and welcoming one.

"Greetings!" He spoke with a smile, leaving Aen dumbfounded at the god's behavior. His acts sometimes left Aen to wonder whether or not he could truly be considered a god of knowledge.

"I am Aesir, a companion of Aen's" He spoke, ignoring the way Ozpin stood ready to move at a moments notice, and also ignoring Aen's agape jaw.

"It may sound mischievous, but I was listing to your conversation and couldn't help but interject myself." It was amazing how Aesir was able to say all of this with a smile on his face, he was practically admitting to eaves dropping and yet he spoke with a blatant smile.

Ozpin was just as equally dumbfounded as Aen and was looking between him and Aesir mostly looking over the taller figure before looking back to Aen.

"This is a companion of yours?" He questioned just as blatantly as Aesir had greeted Ozpin.

"Well... yes" He spoke with a pang of guilt in his confused voice. He then turned to Aesir with the lights in his eyes burning up ever so slightly, "But he shouldn't be here, and I have no idea why he is here!" Aen yelled, directing his anger more towards Aesir rather than Ozpin.

"Content thee Aen." Aesir spoke with calming gesture of his hand, "I heard that Ozpin said you lack credible evidence, and I feel that I am here to provide just that." He spoke again in his irritatingly calm voice.

"Even if you aim to give that evidence you could have done it in a more tame manner than this!" Aen argued back, raising his voice in an attempt to intimidate the god.

"By doing this you have only set back his trust Aesir!" Aen yelled, berating the god as if he was a misbehaved child, a title unbefitting for any god.

Aen would have continued to argue had Ozpin not cleared his throat rather loudly in an attempt to bring the attention back to him. Both Aesir and Aen had turned their heads towards Ozpin, showcasing the opposite emotions on their faces. Aen's face had impressively mimicked that of anger while Aesir's showed that of amusement. Whether it was amusement towards Aen's anger, or rather amusement towards the situation as a whole was unknown to both Ozpin and Aen however.

"Aesir." Ozpin began. "How long have you been listening?"

"Since the start" Aesir responded indifferently

"This was an important talk for Aen, and having it go unmonitored would put me at a disadvantage of knowledge. Knowledge that could be useful for finding Seraphim." Aesir explained to Ozpin.

Ozpin sighed and sat back down into his strangely designed chair, closing his eyes for moment before speaking to Aesir again.

"How exactly did you get in here? The security cameras at the academy would surely have picked you up, and you could not have possibly made it to the elevator unseen." Ozpin spoke, sounding more curious himself rather than concerned or confused. Either the man was very confident in his fighting abilities to be acting so lax, or he had little concern in his being.

"Well, I did not enter exactly traditionally so to speak." He gestured to the intricately decorated golden lamp locked on a belt loop to his side, "This allowed me to travel here, and it can allow me to travel back out if I so wish."

Ozpin glanced at the lamp briefly and looked back at Aesir, curiosity and confusion just vaguely apparent in his dull eyes.

"The lamp?" He questioned.

Aesir smiled. "Yes, the lamp. It may seem far fetched, but surely everything you have seen and heard today has seemed far fetched, hasn't it?" He questioned.

"You're not lying. As soon as Aen had walked through those doors I have been hearing far-fetched statement after far-fetched statement" Ozpin spoke truthfully with a small smile.

"Lamp aside, why is it that you are here? Your intrusion was certainly unexpected." Ozpin spoke, attempting to acquire some basic knowledge on who this companion is and why he had chosen now to show up. He had certainly chosen an odd time to show up and Aen nor Ozpin could not ignore the fact of his eavesdropping, it brought up a question of trust that Aen had wished to avoid.

"Well, you say that Aen has not provided enough credible evidence to back his claims." He began.

"I am here to provide that." He spoke.

"And what evidence will you present?" Ozpin inquired. It was noticeable at this point that Ozpin hadn't acted entirely off his own interest when choosing to not trust Aen. His appearance alone was undeniably credible evidence, however Ozpin had seemed to be acting out of the interest of the people rather than his own. It wasn't a completely unjustified decision considering his job, however, it was frustrating to Aen.

Aesir pointed to the journal on Ozpin's strangely themed desk, "Have you come across any mention of gods?" He questioned.

Ozpin nodded, "Yes, though from what I had read their mention was sparse, only mentioned briefly throughout the journal, and once in detail." Ozpin responded, enlightening Aesir with knowledge that he had such an affinity with.

"Were any names mentioned?" Aesir questioned, wondering just how much Ozpin knew. If he had known enough then he could possibly infer where the direction of this conversation was going.

"Only one. The name Balder had come up multiple times, yet mention of two others were apparent."

Aesir smiled lightly to himself before sparing a glance towards Aen, "You certainly need to work on your documentation skills Aen. How could any future society discover the secrets of the past when your writing is so sparse?" He spoke sarcastically, only adding to Aen's confusion of the God's behavior. First, he had shamelessly admitted to eavesdropping, then he had begun to speak freely with Ozpin, Aen just hoped there was some backing to Aesir's title.

"Well, the names of those two other gods are Eir" Aesir paused, not allowing Aen a chance to retort. "And Aesir" He spoke with a sly smile on his pale face.

Ozpin looked at Aesir unamused, his expression staying as stoic as it was when they had begun to talk. A light breath escaped from his lips before he spoke up to Aesir's tall form.

"So you are a god? One of tangible existence?" Ozpin questioned mockingly.

He had heard many outlandish claims today, yet some of them were backed with solid evidence, a fact that added some backing to each spoken statement. Yet this, a man claiming to be a god? Either the man was a megalomaniac, or had no sense of reality, Ozpin hoped that it wasn't one of those two reasons.

"I know that this will probably be the strangest thing you've heard to date, but I can prove this with very solid evidence." Aesir spoke, beginning to attempt to sound as convincing as possible.

Seeing no immediate downside to refusing to listen to the man's evidence, Ozpin allowed himself to be amused by what the man would present. Yet neither had failed to pick up his slight signs of interest as evident by his intensive studying and forwardly slouched form, it seemed parts of Ozpin wanted to take everything in with a careful eye.

Feeling content with his thoughts Ozpin kindly gestured for Aesir to elaborate further. Without wasting a moment Aesir began by first placing a hand on Aen's shoulder with a heavy pat.

"To begin, I know of Aen's workings. Why he is alive that is." Aesir spoke, to which Ozpin visible seemed to lighten. This was knowledge that so far had only been known to Aesir, whilst Aen had known very basic knowledge of his workings, he hadn't known the specifics nor anything else.

"It's his soul" Aesir spoke.

"Unfortunately, his soul is far from being pure by any means. It is corrupted to a point of rot, yet rot doesn't necessarily mean bad." Aesir gestured to his own chest, placing a hand just above where his heart would be.

"When a soul becomes corrupt it cannot ascend nor rest, rather it will grip to its former host with an undying resolve until it is either removed by the means of another person, or it is destroyed." Aesir's explanation was surprisingly understandable for Aen, and hopefully Ozpin as well.

Aen had expected the God to be as thorough as he could possibly manage, going over every tiny detail and taking a painstakingly long time to get his point across. However, thankfully Aesir had avoided the specifics up until this point, Aen had a feeling that he was saving the specifics for the questions Ozpin would inevitably ask however.

"This means that the life will not leave the body of the host, even if all organics have. Essentially Aen is the product of just that, his soul is gripping to his body and refusing to let go. Aen's body had withered away long ago, but his souls remains as strong as ever, only it refuses to let go, allowing him to talk walk and act like he would were he normal."

This was truly enlightening for both Aen and Ozpin, neither had known much of Aen's workings, and now that they did, his condition would hopefully seem even more believable to Ozpin.

Ozpin seemed to run the information through his mind briefly. It was definitely a lot to take in, and having the explanation be so quickly delivered would require even more time to process. Surely Ozpin had many questions at this moment, and Aen was sure that this was not the only 'evidence' that Aesir aimed to show, luckily this would be convincing enough.

Though it would be convincing to Aen's appearance, it still failed to prove anything about Aesir being a god, aside from having knowledge no other person would have. Aen doubted that would be enough for Aesir however.

"Our people have conducted many studies into the study of the human soul, and while we have recently made major breakthroughs in our studying, we still cannot hope to comprehend all of the soul in its entirety." Up until now, Aen was unaware that the people were even interested in the study of the soul, considering their secular life styles Aen had assumed that the study of human souls would not be common practice. Perhaps they had found more applications of the human soul, which would warrant such extensive research in the field.

"Many scientists have even theorized the possibility of a soul remaining within the body after death. Having no place for the soul to go, it would make sense that the soul would remain within the body, and given the right circumstances, a case like yours Aen" He pointed to Aen with an outstretched finger.

"Could be entirely possible."

The convenience in that statement was beyond helpful for both Aen and Aesir, knowing that Ozpin thought there was a plausible explanation for Aen's condition was a sure sign of belief. However, as interesting as the information was for both Aen and Ozpin, it still hadn't shown how Aesir was a god to Ozpin, and Aen hadn't the slightest clue to what Aesir would do to convince him. It seemed Aen had not been the only one to pick up on Aesir's lack of affirmation as Ozpin had pointed it out to Aesir.

"As intriguing as the information is, this still doesn't prove to me that you are any deity, other than having extensive knowledge of the human soul." He spoke, to which Aesir had nodded in confirmation.

"You are not incorrect, I had given you that information so that you had some idea of who it was you were talking with. Nonetheless though I suppose I should demonstrate something."

After finishing his sentence, Aesir placed a hand over his chest in an identical motion to the one he had used to point out the position of the soul. Closing his eyes, Aesir concentrated heavily on whatever action he was performing. In this case Aen could not determine what he was going to attempt to do, however, if it had required such focus from the god, then it had to have been something grand.

From where Aesir's hand was cupped over his chest, a dull glimmer could be made out through the crevices in between each one of his fingers. The light shinned a dull yellow, similar to that of a flame or that of a lamp, Aen had also noticed how the glimmer had bore some resemblance to when Aesir used his lamp to travel.

After a long exhalation released from Aesir's mouth, he removed his hand from over his chest to reveal a brilliantly glowing light. Both Ozpin and Aen, studied the light extensively, looking for a point of origin.

However, neither had found any epicenter to the light's luminescent form, it was as if the light itself was the origin. Aesir outstretched his hand for both Ozpin and Aen to see the light clearly, both had watched on with palpable amounts curiosity in their differing eyes.

Aen had found himself surprised to see that the light seemed almost tangible, and not simply a force of nature itself. It looked as if one could physically touch the light, even though it had floated just barely above the palm of the god's pale hand, suspended almost like a star in the sea of black above. It was certainly a mesmerizing sight, and upon the closest examination, one could see a dull orange flame snake around the corporeal light in a similar fashion to how flames would lick at stake.

Before Aen could designate any more of his time to studying the light however, Ozpin had spoken up, breaking Aen from his rustic stupor.

"What is it?" He questioned.

Another small and equally sly smile had once again found itself on the face of the god.

"My soul" He stated simply.

Ozpin looked up in disbelief, an action uncharacteristic of Ozpin up until this point. He had only shown a subtle seriousness throughout their talk, even when Aen had removed his armor, so for Ozpin to react in such a way that would suggest extreme interest, it would have meant that Aesir had peaked his interest.

However, the way Ozpin looked on was entirely ambiguous, it could either be one of interest, or one of concern at fact unbeknownst to the two. Whatever it was, it seemed Aesir was comfortable with elaborating.

"It may sound and even seem bizarre to you, but I can assure you that this is a soul in a physical manifestation. Of course, my soul differs greatly from yours and Aen's." Aesir began.

"Pulling forth the soul from my body would usually result in immediate death, however, I have only pulled forth a fragment of my soul from my body. The remain fragments of my souls are enough to allow me to perform normally, albeit with slowed movement and reaction."

It was true, Aen had not only noticed the torpid movement of the god's arm, or the fact that he had become even paler than he already was. It was as if someone had physically pulled a portion of his life from his body, which wasn't very far from the spoken and demonstrated truth itself.

"I am sorry, but I cannot leave it out for much longer." Aesir spoke with discernible struggle, the stress on his face clearly visible to the two others.

With noticeable haste Aesir had returned his hand to its position over his chest, the light of his soul dimming as he clutched it to his chest. Once the light had died to nothing Aesir had released a noticeably exasperated sigh, the process must have taken a toll on the God. Aen had even watched the color return to his pale face seconds after the soul had returned to his body.

Ozpin had watched the entire procedure with careful attention, presumably he was looking for anything that could prove the trick to being a hoax, yet Ozpin was surprised to find naught.

Releasing a defeated sigh, Ozpin smiled, yet even dimmer than any smile he had shown before.

"What do I need to do to help?"

 **-S-**

 **Ok well, this took me an overly long time to write, and I am so sorry for the month long wait. I had gotten extremely sick for the longest time and hadn't been able to write because of it, I also had so much** make up **work to do, so that took up a lot of my time.**

 **However, I'm glad to finally have this chapter out, and I hope you guys can enjoy it, even if it's a dialogue chapter. That's all for today, so leave a review if you want, and I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes, especially towards the end. By then I just wanted to finish and upload the chapter so there's bound to be a few mistakes.**

 **\- Stay Toasty, From** Loasty **of The Toasty**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 -

Aen strode through the hallways with a gaunt stride, while he could no longer become physically tired, that didn't mean it had excused him from the burdens of mental exhaustion. His eyes had been glued to the white carpet as he walked as silently as his armor would allow him to, reflecting on the events of his confrontation with Ozpin.

Thankfully, Ozpin had agreed to provide some assistance, although his commitment to his decision was not very wholehearted, he had made it clear that he didn't want any physical involvement with the situation unless wholly necessary. Rather, he would prove his value through intelligence and reconnaissance, and if crucially needed, physical backup. Aen played the words back through his head, _"Unless your situation is of upmost concern, then I will not take any physical involvement in your endeavors. The lives of my students and staff are not yours to control"_

Aen had fully agreed with what the headmaster had proposed. With the way he had been working he knew that having a large and undeniably noticeable backing to his cause would only draw attention and controversy to himself and those involved, something Aen had aimed to avoid. He didn't want it to be known that he was openly working to thwart the plans of someone in hiding, it would only push them deeper into their carefully crafted hole of secrecy. To Aen's delight as well, Aesir had seemed to have been in his right mind to deem that proposal a good one, the way that Aesir had been acting was much of an enigma to Aen. However, the god of knowledge seemed to be knowing what it was that he was doing, enough so to be able to convince one of the most influential political figures to help he and Aen.

It was then that Aen's mind drifted to Aesir's words. He had spoken that Aen's souls was what had kept him corporeal, it was not an unbelievable statement, if anything Aen had expected that answer and he was surprised with himself that he had not fully asked of his workings earlier. He had known that some part of his existence was contributed to the existence of his soul, however it was the way that Aesir put it that had made Aen so unsettled.

Rot...

He had said that his soul had rotted, an undeniably impassive way of saying his soul was naught but corrupt. Aen had hoped that his condition was caused by a less disheartening fact, he had hope of such even if the chances were little. Rot, it was surely not that corroded? Although, he had been locked in purgatory for a long time, long enough for kingdoms to rise and fall, and long enough so that his body would be nothing but a totted skeleton with nothing but a souls guiding it.

The more Aen had thought about it, the more he had realized just how similar to a revenant he was, something that he had believed to unholy. It was no lie that Aen was driven by some amount of vengeance, however, he had made it only a small deciding factor. Yet, knowing that what he had become was very close to that of an abhorrent beast, was a heavy thought. He hadn't allowed it any leeway in affecting him whilst he was conversing with Ozpin and Aesir, those thoughts were better left for another time when he wasn't planning an important moment that hinged on his success. However, now seemed to have been the time when the more philosophical questions would dawn on him.

Wanting to remove his mind from his thoughts Aen had lifted his head from the strangely hypnotic color of the carpet, and instead focused his attention towards the doors he was walking by. The moon had risen far above the sky in all of its fractured glory at this time of night, yet he still had been unsuccessful in finding what it was that he had been searching for with such lackadaisical intent.

Ozpin had allowed him permission to stay at Beacon if he so wished to, keeping Aen close would allow for easy and uninterrupted communication, a factor that both Ozpin and Aesir seemed to value greatly. Before Aen had left, Ozpin had informed him of where he would be staying if he had chosen so, _"You may make your residence in the dormitories. However, please keep from disturbing the students' work."_ Aen recalled the directions that Ozpin had given him, yet his navigational skills had offered him little in the way of helping, the way Ozpin had worded things only helped to complicate Aen's already unproportionate mental map of the area. For several minutes he had found himself wandering the halls of the dormitory with little direction, rather he had found himself absorbed in his weighty thoughts.

However, realizing now that it would be of importance to find the room, Aen studied the doors as he passed them.

 _123, 124, 125... 126?_

Aen studied the room numbers labeled on a gilded plaque above the doors, counting through each of them mentally, trying to find what he was looking for. Ozpin had mentioned room 126... or was it 127? Aen had lost track of the directions further into his aimless wandering and had forgotten the more literate details of what Ozpin had told him, in this case it was the room number. He generally recalled Ozpin mentioning it being in the 120's, or was that memory fabricated, Aen had no way of telling but he trusted his fogged memory to guide him.

Having finished a mental coin toss Aen walked up to the door and twisted the knob, only to find it unmoving.

Aen sighed.

He remembered Ozpin saying that he would transfer the key to his scroll... whatever that meant. Whilst Aen had been given broad knowledge of everything of importance in this new world, he still hadn't gained any knowledge of the simple and tedious workings of insignificant things such as what Aen struggled with now. It was frustrating that he couldn't perform such menial tasks.

Aen reached into one of his side pouches pulling free a scroll that Ozpin had provided him with, Ozpin seemed to take into account Aen's lack of modern tools and had willingly provided him with one. Until now he had rejected to use the device, he didn't know how to use it, nor did he know many of it's applications, to him it was just a misnamed piece of equipment. Yet, he still tried his luck anyways, he inspected the object looking for anything of interest.

Aen's eyes narrowed, the thing was a blank slate. Absolutely nothing was on the thing that would have suggested it was working, the only thing that seemed to resemble anything that would be a possible option was a button located at what Aen assumed was the bottom of the device. Knowing he didn't understand much else he pressed the button in hoping for anything to happen.

Aen stared at the screen... nothing happened. It was just a translucent piece of equipment that didn't even work.

Aen released an annoyed sigh, allowing his head to thump up against the door in front of him, resulting in a rather noisy bang as he did so. Aen didn't even bother to consider that this may not have been his room and he just slammed on the door, his mind wasn't thinking straight at the moment. What he needed above all else was some rest.

Whilst he was traveling, he had found an effective way to pass time in a manner very similar to resting. He simply would just sit down and close his eyes, allowing his mind to drift, when he felt little conscious it almost mimicked the feeling of sleep, without the comfortable feeling of a blanket or bed though.

Aen was just about to cut his losses and sit right down where he stood, but he had only just began the motion before he heard a voice.

"Aen?"

Aen turned his head to find the origin of the voice, his eyes just met the form of the small red girl that he had met before in the events of the previous days.

He stopped where he was and raised a hand in a gesture of good intentions, waving to the small girl in the hallway. Whilst Aen had recognized the face, he didn't recognize the outfit she was wearing, at least not fully.

It was presumably a uniform required for the school as evident by the fact that Aen had seen some students earlier in his visit wearing an identical outfit. Yet, the more he studied it now the more he realized just how formal the students had to dress, it was huge difference from what Aen had grown accustomed to during his time. Anywhere he had been, he was only graced with the luxury of comfortable clothing on the most special of occasions, what she wore was more befitting of an aristocrat or a noble, not that of a student. Yet, that wasn't the immediate focus, what had caught Aen's attention more was how late the student was out at.

From what Aen had observed their seemed to be an obvious curfew, yet this girl had found herself outside the boundaries of the presumed curfew.

"What are you doing out here so late?" Aen questioned inquisitively, not only for the sake of conversation but also for the sake of his own curiosity.

The face the young girl had made seemed to be one of confusion, which then quickly shifted into a face of visible concern as an epiphany had become apparent to the red girl.

"Oh My Gosh!" She exclaimed quietly, yet loud enough to express obvious concern.

She quickly fished through one of the pockets that had somehow found it's place on her uniform, pulling forward an identical object to the one Aen had experienced so much trouble with. She quickly pressed the button that Aen had taken note of during his brief examination and watched as the screen sprang to life with a dull glow emanating from the rectangular object. Aen deadpanned as well as his face would allow him to, here he was having some much trouble trying to solve the conundrum that his scroll had presented him, and the girl was able to work it effortlessly.

It wasn't so much angering as it was more bothersome.

"I had no idea how late it was!" She said. The dull glow from the scroll having casted shadows over her round face only helped to make her worried features more apparent.

Allowing himself to continue so that he may attempt to calm the girl, Aen spoke up.

"Where have you been so long as to lose track of time?" He questioned.

Ruby lifted a hand to her face, wiping it across in a slow motion as if to calm herself or even shame herself.

"I was just studying in the library for so long because we had a test coming up but I didn't know about it until yesterday so I had to cram in all of the information so that I could hopefully maybe even be able to somehow pass this class and stay at school without failing or else I might ju-" Aen cut her off with a dismissive wave, speaking his concern.

"Calm. Calm down, you sound stressed. Just take a deep breath and slow down" He spoke slowly and calmingly.

Listening to the given instructions, Ruby inhaled a large amount of air and let it lose slowly, allowing her body to sag with every small amount of air that left her body, even going so far as to allow herself to slide down the wall next to her until she came to a stop in the floor.

Allowing a light chuckle to escape, Aen walked in front of the small girl, standing over her and outstretching a hand to help her up. Although Aen's smile was not visible to Ruby, she seemed to get the helping idea, Aen doubted his smile was very pleasing anyways.

Allowing her hand to grasp Aen's own armored one, she let herself get pulled up faster than she or Aen had anticipated. Aen had not properly judged the weight of the girl and hadn't even put much thought into how hard he would really need to pull, having no judgment of strength was hard to work with, this specific moment being one of the prime examples.

Ruby sprung forward from the ground, her hand still grasped onto Aen's, the sudden action seemed to startle her just as much as it did Aen. Unluckily, Aen had put a commendable amount of effort into pulling the girl up as he had not put much thought into it, that was a clear mistake.

He lost his footing from the sudden movement and stumbled backwards with an equally surprised Ruby in tow from the strong pull. His back collided hard with the adjacent wall, resulting in a loud bang which most definitely had woken perhaps a few students in nearby rooms. Seeing that Ruby was being pulled forward just as fast as Aen fell backwards, he prepared himself to stop the girl before she could undoubtedly collide hard with Aen's body.

Holding his free hand out he grabbed the girl by the side and slowed her approach, changing what certainly would have been a hard collision, into a gentle thud up against Aen's breastplate.

It had taken longer than Aen had anticipated to fully comprehend what had just happened. Yet when he did, his eyes came to focus on the face of the girl pressed up against his chest, with her eyes closed and face scrunched, undoubtedly taken off-guard by the sudden happening.

The same experience seemed to occur with Ruby as she too had taken longer than anticipated to comprehend what had happened. Aen watched her eyes open slowly, showing a slight amount of surprise as she felt her cheek pressed up against cold metal.

With a slow movement, she panned her vision upwards until it met with Aen's helmeted face, her own eyes focused on Aen's oppositely colored ones. It didn't take long this time before Ruby had taken notice of their noticeably awkward position.

Aen's arm had found its place at Ruby's side with his hand right on the crook of her hip, while his other hand had still grasped Ruby's own smaller hand, all whilst Aen's back was pressed to the wall with Ruby pressed just up against him as well.

Ruby's face lit up like Seraphim's sword...

With a loud ' _eep'_ the hooded girl pushed herself off of Aen as fast as her arms would allow her to do so.

"Oh My Gosh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to do that I just had no idea that you would pull so hard!" She exclaimed in a tone louder than what Aen would comfortably recommend.

However, Aen expressed his own apologies as fast and as courteous as he could. "I apologize profusely! I am so sorry!" He exclaimed. "I had misjudged my own strength, I hadn't realized just how catastrophic that would turn out to be!"

Aen had exclaimed his apologies just as quickly and hastily as Ruby did, however he had attempted to keep his voice more hushed than what Ruby had demonstrated.

Ruby's eyes dropped to the floor with the red hue still refusing to leave her face even as she averted eye contact with Aen's own impressively replicated ones.

Aen sighed, "I think I'll just make my leave"

He didn't really need to be in his room anyway, it was more of a convenience than anything else, he was sure that he could find a comfortable place upon the school grounds to rest. However, just as Aen had begun to make his leave to seek out a new place to rest Ruby's voice had interrupted his awkward stride.

"Wait, where are you going? Don't you have a place to stay?" She asked hastily, more for her own curiosity however. The red hue dimmed to a bearable pink shade.

Aen released yet another sigh, this time out of annoyance at the remembrance of his inability to work his scroll.

"I do, however my scroll refuses to operate so I can't even enter the room that was given to me." He spoke with audible amounts of annoyance in the way he talked.

He reached into the pouch that he had kept it in and pulled it free, holding it in his hand with barely noticeable disdain for the ineffective object.

"I'm not sure why, but no matter what I do it just won't work." He stated, his annoyance building to more noticeable amounts.

Ruby looked the object over briefly, before asking Aen if she could see it. She had always found herself to be adept in craftsmanship, this couldn't be much different right?

She held the rectangular symbol of frustration in her hands, flipping it around a few times and looking it over before she pressed in and held the button Aen had pressed earlier. She released a quiet chuckle before looking back up at Aen with a clearly amused smile on her face, "It's just out of battery" She said with a mocking smile that clearly tried to make fun of Aen's inabilities in a friendly yet frustrating manner.

Aen sighed before letting out a quiet chuckle himself, it was a simple fix apparently but that did little to ease his embarrassment. While he knew very little of how the thing worked it still didn't make it any easier that he had made such a simple mistake.

"I didn't think of that I guess." Aen spoke with his voice portraying a joking tone, he did it in an attempt remove the slight shame though.

Ruby smiled calmly, "If you want I can charge it in my room for you." She spoke, and then spoke up again her smile widening just a little more, "Hey, if you want you can stay in our room for tonight and then we can get your room open tomorrow!" She spoke excitedly with a heavy whisper.

Aen mimicked a smile to himself, it was a very friendly offer but he didn't think that he needed to stay the night with them. He could just find a comfortable place that could undoubtedly be found within the academy to rest, however, he wouldn't mind allowing her to fix his scroll for him. It was a nice offer but one that he would have to kindly decline, he wouldn't want to intrude into her room for the night being.

"That's a very kind offer Ruby, but I wouldn't want to bother your rest, I'll just find somewhere else to rest for the time being." He spoke, he still needed to mention for her to keep his scroll though, but before he could speak up Ruby retorted with a newfound confidence.

"Oh come on, everyone's asleep anyway you won't be bothering anyone if you stay the night. Plus Ozpin doesn't like people out after night, he said it sets oof alarms of something." Ruby added as an after thought.

Alarms? Aen would have set himself on leaving but now that he knew that he could potentially be putting the entire school in a state of panic, it started to sway his decision. He doubted Ozpin would appreciate him panicking the entirety of his academy, it could even misplace his trust in Aen if he mistook the situation as it happened, it was a topic that needed more information.

"Alarms? How do they set off?" Aen asked inquisitively.

Ruby closed her eyes for a brief moment as if trying to recall a small moment, "I think that if you leave to go outside at night you can set them off, or something like that." She spoke, trying to recall the entirety of what had been told to her.

"I don't know where else you can find some though." She added as an after thought with her pondering that had been able to greatly sway Aen decision.

Aen pondered his options, he could either risk waking the entire academy and lose Ozpin's already fickle trust, rest in the hallways, or stay the night with Ruby. He didn't like the idea of losing Ozpin's trust nor did he take kindly to the idea of invading Ruby's room, resting in the halls didn't seem so bad though. He had already even considered resting the hallways and was about to do so even before Ruby had interrupted his actions.

Aen looked towards Ruby who seemed to still be absorbed in her thoughts, "I'll just stay the night here in the hallways, I don't want to set anything off and I don't want to bother your rest." He informed her, to which Ruby, again, instantly retorted.

"Don't do that, that's weird. Come on just stay in my room for the night, I don't know how people will react when they seem a guy in a suit of armor sleeping outside their door." She spoke back, once again making Aen reconsider the things he had not when deciding on his decisions.

However, Aen was coming to the realization that no matter what he said, Ruby would insist on him staying the night. He was just wasting Ruby's time by arguing with her in the hallways, plus he was probably disturbing her sleep more now than what he would do if he stayed the night. Releasing a defeated sigh Aen decided to give in to what the girl had demanded, no matter what he said he would probably end up staying the night anyway.

"Ok I'll stay the night but I'll be leaving as soon as the sun rises, I wouldn't want to overstay my own welcome." Aen spoke defeatedly, trying not to show disdain in his voice for Ruby's sake.

Ruby's mouth shaped itself into a large grin at Aen's agreement, "Perfect!" She exclaimed quietly, careful not to wake anyone. "Just let me get changed and then I'll open the door back up for you." She spoke, immediately bounding to a door not far down the hallway with quiet strides, Aen followed her excited strides and came to a stop just next to a door only three down from the one he was struggling to open.

Ruby opened the door as quietly as she possibly could after holding her scroll over a mechanical scanner that acted as the door's lock. Aen leaned up against the wall and watched as the door closed just as quietly as it had opened, he could hear so very quietly, rustling from within for only a few brief moments before the sounds became too quiet for him to follow. He could no longer here the sounds, however a few brief moments later he could hear the sound of the door's handle being turned.

From within the crack in the door Ruby's head poked out, and with a quiet motion gestured for Aen to come in. Aen had known he had to be quiet, but for what reasons he couldn't identify directly aside from the obvious ones that was. Of course he didn't want to disturb the slumber of the adjacent rooms which undoubtedly were filled with students of the academy, but Ruby nor him had actually been very quiet whilst they conversed within the halls, especially during there awkward little incident. Thinking back on it now Aen was beginning to reprimand himself all of over again for his carelessness, the entirety of the situation seemed completely unrealistic and as unlikely as it could possible come, however Aen had still been unlucky enough to have it happen to him. Reality had seemed to leave the halls at the certain moment or else a situation as outlandish as that one wouldn't be made possible, it certainly left an embarrassing stain in Aen's mind, just another reason he had needed some rest.

Aen pulled himself from his thoughts and allowed himself to take in the setting of the room, and he instantly now knew why he had to be so quiet, the room wasn't empty as he thought it would be. Aen internally sighed to himself, thinking back upon what Ruby had spoken to him, he was now realizing that she had mentioned that the room was not just her's. She had said 'our' and 'everyone' however Aen had simply glossed over those details thinking very little of them, now he was beginning to see that he needed to become much more observant of others' speech, his mind was in a fog as it was and focusing on the minute details that would always present themselves only proved to become more and more difficult.

Ruby pointed a finger towards the corner of her room next to what seemed like a large closet door.

"You can sleep over by the corner, I'll grab you some blankets and a pillow hold on." She whispered with her voice just barely audible to Aen's trained yet tired senses.

Aen was now beginning to regret his decision of staying with the girl for the night even if it would have been futile to argue he could have just walked off without much of an argument itself, then again that could have set off one of the alarms Ruby had mentioned. Aen knew that he would certainly have some explaining to do in the morning, however, rather than thinking over it now Aen decided he would rest and recover for the moment being.

From where he stood now at the entrance he could see the yellow locks of Yangs hair hanging off the side of one of the beds. Aen observed the beds with a strange sense of awe, he had just noticed that they had been stacked on top of one another, however they were done so with seemingly little care. One was held up by ropes while the other was simply stacked up with books, it was a miracle that the beds stayed up as they were. While the ropes weren't much of a stretch and seemed to be working just fine, the books on the other hand seemed utterly impossible, yet somehow the bed laid comfortably atop them.

Aen worried for the safety of the golden haired girl who slept atop the dangerous tower of beds. Before Aen could examine more of the precarious room, however Ruby walked up to him with her footsteps hardly making a sound to the point where Aen wondered if she had practiced.

"Here." She spoke, holding out a neatly folded blanket with a simple pillow atop the folded stack.

Aen grasped the pleasantries and walked over to the corner of the room where he would hopefully find himself resting in peace, if he was lucky he wouldn't have any interruptions until the morning, that should prove sufficient time for Aen to regather his scattered senses. As quietly as his body would allow Aen sat on the floor with his back against the wall and examined the sheets given to him.

To speak truth, he didn't really need them, but there was no use in arguing with Ruby to not give him them. He couldn't even feel the softness of what looked to be a comfortable blanket anyways, not because of his armor, but because he just physically can't.

It was a strange sensation that Aen was still having trouble overcoming, while he was used to not being able to feel the texture of objects whilst wearing armor, it was a whole different situation not being able to feel textures at all. It was strange, he could still tell that things were there, but he couldn't feel them, he knew when his body touched things but he still couldn't feel the textures. It was like he was constantly wearing a glove that he couldn't remove despite his best efforts.

However, Aen didn't let that prevent himself from using the blanket and pillow, just because he couldn't feel them didn't mean he didn't have to use them. If he wanted to keep a grasp on whatever humanity he had left then he would have to remember the things that made him human, even if it was as simple as using a blanket.

Resisting the urge to release a futile sigh, Aen wrapped the blanket around his armored self and pressed the pillow up against the wall behind him. It didn't make any difference, but a part of him felt a strange warmth, a warmth he hadn't felt in thousands of years, a sort of, comfort...

He glanced over at Ruby who was climbing up into the dangerously suspended bed, his eyes casting an unnerving light within the darkness of the room. Feeling a foreign gaze upon her back, Ruby turned her head to look at Aen who had somewhat comically cacooned himself with the blankets, leaving only the upper parts of his chest-plate and the entirety of his head to show.

"You're not taking off your armor?" Ruby whispered just loud enough for Aen to hear.

Aen had known that would warrant some attention, but what was underneath would only bring more, so he chose to leave it on.

"I prefer it." He whispered back.

Aen heard a low breathy noise coming from Ruby, who had now found her way into the top of the bunk. It was a strange sort of windy noise with hints of a higher pitched tone at work, Aen's omitted brows scrunched in confusion at the strange noise.

However that expression disappeared once he realized what she was doing, she was laughing...

"Goodnight Aen." She spoke with some hints of the quiet laughter laced in, and through the darkness Aen thought that he could just barely make out a smile, a genuine one.

That warmth within Aen seemed to strengthen just a bit more.

-S-

 _Aen focused on the unified sound of footfalls as he followed in unison with the others within his ranks, as far as he knew they were close, the roads and trees were starting to look more and more familiar as the days passed. While he had been eager to return home, he hadn't expected to do it with an entire battalion of skirmishers._

 _Aen wasn't expected to make it home from this battle, as were a third of his companions, statics had shown that only the most determined would be returning from battle, they were intimidating yet inspiring statics. Intimidating because of the fact that one out of every three soldiers would die, and inspiring because no-one wanted to be that one soldier._

 _Aen had seen the road sign a few hours back, yet it didn't make his nerves lesson in the slightest, Falks._

 _The town was his home but it also held very little in terms of pleasant memories, while it had inspired him to fight for the sake of his home, it was intimidating to face this sight once again. They were on the outskirts thankfully, none of them had actually made it to the more densely populated areas of the farming town yet. They had still passed some of the farm houses, yet Aen was thankful they had taken the route around his house, he wasn't willing to face those memories just yet._

 _The sun was high in the air and not a cloud was present in the sky, certainly it was a sign from the gods, a sign of good faith. The day couldn't have been better, but he knew that the impending battle wouldn't make the day any better, everyone was nervous, he could feel it. The way that some didn't wear their helmets, or how some-one would drop their spear, or maybe even how it was silent, the only sound being the unified marching._

 _Aen wouldn't lie, he was nervous, he wasn't wearing his helmet either, he had told himself that it was because he was overheating, but it was only the beginning days of spring, some snow was still on the ground in some areas even. His cheaply made kettle helmet was hardly comfortable either, it had been provided out of mandatory code and hardly even fit his head well, the only thing that would keep it from bobbing around was the leather strap that hardly even stayed fastened. His gambeson was hardly pleasant either, while it kept him warm and protected, it did little in the way of keeping him comfortable._

 _Yet, these weren't the thoughts that plagued Aen's head, what was on his mind was the same that was on everyone's, the impending battle._

 _The demons had made very short work of their standing garrison and it now made sense to Aen that the Baron had pulled his knights back, they were setting up defensive lines around the town of Falks. If only they had done so quicker._

 _Yet, Aen could not change the past, the death of his father at the hands of the Demons only strengthened his will to fight, he still had the power to shape the future._

 _The odds had not been in their favor ever since the first battle of the war, it didn't help either that neighboring nations rejected to help combat the threat of the Demons, they were all too focused on building up their own army. If there was anything that was needed now more than ever in these times, it was allies, yet people still refused to help each-other, even if countless lives depended on it. However, that was out of Aen's control, what he needed to focus on for now was the task ahead, he didn't need to fill his mind with worrying thoughts._

 _They were very close now, Aen could tell. The nearby farm homes just barely stood, some having been turned to nothing but scraps, the wildlife was sparse as well, Aen had noted the lack of animals that usually roamed the surrounding wood of Falks. Aen didn't know if Demons needed to eat, he doubted that the hollow armor husks had to, yet the lesser demons probably had to. Either it was that or the animals knew something wasn't right, however, if they did have to eat then it wasn't a good sign that an animal was rarely spotted, it only suggested a large force._

 _Before Aen could ponder on any of the peculiarities he had spotted, the unified footfalls of his comrades stopped abruptly, he had almost found himself walking into the back of the man in front of him. The voice of the on duty general had hit his ears, "Form, line!" He bellowed from the front of their marching line of soldiers._

 _Aen followed the orders without a second thought and moved seamlessly with his other companions to form a long three layered line across the field they found themselves amongst. Aen had the disadvantage or 'luxury' as some eager soldiers referred to it, of being in the front row of the long line, it was a scary position and Aen would have much preferred to be within the second row along with the pikemen. However, his rank didn't allow him the luxury of being amongst the pikemen, rather he found himself at the front with his spear and shield._

 _The murmurs of the crowd died to a silence once the general rode by on his physical high horse, his closest and most elite soldiers all by his side. Aen had never grown on his current general, which was a similar feeling amongst most of the men under General Betrand's command, the man was well respected amongst the men he commanded when he had first risen to his position. Yet, the soldiers had found him to be more and more dislikable, a feeling that Aen shared along with the other soldiers, however now was no time to hold disdain for his commander._

 _Bertrand stopped his horse at the middle of the formation, the red cape which signified his rank was still, no wind or breeze felt the need to push it._

 _"Our forward scouts reported back!" He began, yelling out so all of the soldiers could hear the undoubtedly crucial reports._

 _"We are dealing with a hand full of husks, but twice as many lesser demons!" He bellowed. "The types of lesser demons are mostly unknown, however a large of presence jikin have been reported!"_

 _The slight wave of unease had clearly hit the men, as was evident by the quiet murmurs and the uncomfortable rustling of a few anxious men. Husks were common place in the battles that had been fought so far, they were direct servants of Seraphim, their jagged black armor had accurately symbolized their skill with blades, yet that wasn't the most fearsome fact of the husks. They got their names from what they literally were, husks, their armor was empty aside from a demonic energy that flew freely throughout the insides of the armor, the only reliable way of killing them was by somehow piercing into their armor and letting the energy free. It made them a worthy and intimating opponent._

 _However, it was the jikin that were far scarier, not because of their skill however, but rather because of their habits. They devoured the corpses of fallen humans, and would not hold themselves back from doing so to a live human, they were a terrifying foe. Yet, as terrifying as they were, they were thankfully easily dispatched, but that still did little to take away from their appearance as well._

 _They were about the size of a taller human if they were to stand to their fullest, however they rarely did, rather they would walk hunched or in some cases even on all fours, which was made unsettling with the way their human like appendages bent and contorted at unnatural angles. In terms of a base appearance they looked almost like a human, however their pupil-less eyes and bony bodies took away from that, but nothing more took away from it than their mouths. They stretched across almost the entirety of their face, and with no lips, it only gave them the appearance of someone who was constantly smiling, with the addition of dangerously sharp teeth._

 _Aen's already nervous attitude was only strengthened._

 _This would not be an easy battle, he even doubted that the statistics would match up with this battle's casualties._

-S-

Aen's eyes opened to the sight of the room he had decided to stay in the night prior. The sun was just now beginning to rise yet no-one in the room had woken from their slumber just yet.

As Aen looked around the room he was beginning to realize just how much more focused he was now with some proper time to rest his mind, although he did not actually sleep his imitation of sleep was just as useful. However, his mind always tended to wander when he passed time in that manner, and more often than not he would find himself recalling the memories of his past experiences before the destruction of his time. While some were pleasant, Aen often found himself reflecting on his negative experiences, Aen didn't understand why he was so intent on reliving the memories, yet he had found himself remembering those ones the most vividly.

Perhaps he was just trying to remember what it was he was fighting against, although his enemy was very clear, who was and wasn't on his side was much more unclear. There were many faces Aen has met and many enemies that Aen had regrettably made, enough to cloud his judgment of right and wrong. Yet, those weren't the thoughts Aen had wanted to dwell on, no matter how much his mind drew itself towards them.

Having grounded himself from his thoughts he returned to reality.

He was still tightly wrapped in the blankets he had been given the night before, and he truly felt no desire to leave, it was actually quite relaxing considering that he still wore his armor underneath the blanket that cacooned him. He didn't want to wake any of the inhabitants of the room either, he was a guest and he didn't want to disrupt the people living here. Taking a moment to dwell on it, Aen had not actually known who the inhabitants of the room were, however from the one person he was able to make out, he would reason a guess that it was the rest of Ruby's team members.

Now, Aen could actually make out the positions of each person in the room with some of the light now flooding through the window located between the beds. This had allowed him to clearly make out the inhabitants of the room now, which had finalized his assumptions of the remaining inhabitants being the team members of Ruby's.

Thankfully, none had woken yet, leaving Aen hopefully ample time to consider what he would say when they were to wake.

As it stood, Aen could either wait until the others woke to retrieve his scroll and say his goodbyes, or he could try to find his scroll now and leave before any of the inhabitants were to wake. Aen greatly favored the idea of finding his scroll now and leaving, yet he didn't want to rummage through their room in search of an item which had an undetermined location.

As much as Aen would have liked to leave at his own leisure, parts of him were whispering into his conscious not to rummage through their belongings and look for his scroll. So, allowing his mind to lean towards the idea of waiting, Aen allowed his head to rest back up against the wall from his seated position in the corner of the room. Although he didn't want to wait around, it also gave him a chance to fully consider everything that was going on with a clear and focused mind, not one rattled with stress.

For now, Aen opted to avoid considering his current location, and instead allowed his focus to drift towards the topic of last night's events.

Whilst it was a huge success that Aen had gained the allegiance of Ozpin, it still didn't clearly determine what he was to do next. Aen had come to the realization that he was just blindly following orders up until this point, yet he had never fully considered the gravity of this change of events. He had run up against a wall at this point, and as far as he knew, there wasn't much he knew that he could do.

However, one thing that Ozpin had mentioned stuck within Aen's mind as a topic of importance. The mention of the religion that worshipped Seraphim, or at least a creature with similar naming, however much Aen doubted that.

If there was anywhere good to start, then it would have to be with the investigation of this religious order, yet, Ozpin had said it was sparsely practiced, meaning that it could become a hassle to disclose the location of worshippers. When he did find them though, Aen would certainly devote his attention towards studying what exactly this religion centered around. If he could find that out then he could possibly have a solid le-

A loud shriek, which was accompanied by a loud thud had cut Aen from his thoughts, and as a result he snapped his head forward to find what had caused the shrill noise.

As his eyes came to focus, he made out the form of Weiss standing in front of him with a terrified look on her face.

"What the is HE doing here!" She shrieked, pointing an outstretched finger directly towards Aen's blanket wrapped form.

Aen turned his head to see the exasperated look on Yang's face as she pulled herself from the ground and threw her hands onto Blake's bed for support... she must have been the source of the the loud thud. It would have made sense considering where she fell from.

"What's going on!" She yelled frantically, quickly scanning the room with bleary eyes and a sluggish posture. Aen had even noticed that Blake had shot up from her sleeping position as well, her face display far less anxiety and awareness then each of the other two members. She must have still been in a daze from her slumber

"I'll tell you what's going on! He snuck into our room!" Weiss blared, disregarding any other possibilities of him being a possible guest to the room.

Aen, who was still tightly wrapped in his blanket cocoon hadn't even a chance to speak back before Yang blared out in prejudice anger.

"What!?" She yelled, her bleary eyes seeming to finally take in the setting of their familiarly cramped room.

However, before Aen could allow her to elaborate on what she was going to say, he cut her off in an attempt to explain himself before the situation quickly spiraled into a realm of distrust and prejudice.

"Please quiet!" He exclaimed, and to his surprise was able to actually stop the three where they stood, Weiss with he accusing glare, Yang with her confused anger, and Blake with her barely wakeful form.

"I didn't intrude into your room at all, I was invited by Ruby to stay the night." He spoke hastily, hoping to clear the atmosphere of the situation.

However, Yang's expression turned from one of confused anger to that of focused anger, although Aen could tell that the anger held some amount of respect to it, the way that she briefly smiled mischievously spoke of that. Not allowing Aen a moment to think nor communicate with the frenzied room, Yang looked about quickly as if searching for something before yelling out instead.

"RUBY!" She exclaimed, probably loud enough to even wake the neighboring rooms which must have fallen victim to the noise which resulted from the chaotic frenzy within Team RWBY's room.

Within seconds of the exclaimed name, the bathroom door that Aen had rejected to acknowledge within his time in the room slammed open with a loud thud. Yang's blonde hair flipped in a flurry of movement as she turned her head to face the direction of the opened door, making eye contact with Ruby's panicked yet sheepish face. In a quick movement Yang rushed to Ruby before grabbing her arm and pulling her directly back into the bathroom with a quick utter of "We need to talk."

Soon after the bathroom door closed with a loud thud it didn't take long for an air of awkwardness to settle within the room. Blake, who was still sitting up in her bed had seemed to finally wake from her temporary moment of confusion and surprising was the first to speak, Aen would have assumed Weiss to be the one to speak first considering her affection for yelling.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a rather mundane voice in comparison to everything else that had uttered any word during this morning. However, she didn't seem angry or disappointed like Weiss and Yang, rather she only seemed only annoyed or confused.

Holding a sigh from exiting, Aen responded, hoping to explain what exactly happened in more detail than what her had said before. He hardly had a chance to speak over the constant yelling and confusion, let alone think about how he wanted to properly explain his story. Although the story itself wasn't that far fetched, the authenticity of it could easily be questioned along with it's reason.

"As I said before, I was locked out of my room so Ruby offered for me to stay the night here and by dawn we would have my room opened." Aen paused briefly, seemingly regretting a decision or undergoing wishful thinking unknown to the two other girls.

"I had hoped to be out of the room before I could case a disturbance." Aen gestured to the bathroom door.

"However, that seemed to be wishful thinking."

Weiss looked on angrily, very visibly rolling her eyes without adding any attempt of subtlety to the rude action.

"Well I think that's very clear now!" She retorted, "I can't believe she let you in here." She muttered, allowing the palm of her hand to rub away the shame that plagued her from Ruby's innocent actions.

However, not allowing a moment of weakness in her stature Weiss quickly looked back up and looked Aen in the eyes, however before she could utter any rude words of authority in an attempt to shame Aen's wavering decisions, the bathroom door burst open.

"Ok!" Yang yelled with an exasperated gasp mixed into her speech.

Although it seemed to be to Ruby's dismay, Aen had taken notice of the red faced girl. Whatever it was that Yang had told her in the bathroom must of have done a number on her pride and shame, enough to the point of her avoiding eye contact, a trait Aen had previously observed in the girl. Yet, he still couldn't determine if it was a minute trait of the girl's or an actual discrepancy in her ability to socialize.

However, at the moment it that wasn't what needed Aen's attention, rather it was Yang's attention grabbing voice.

"Sorry about that one Aen!" Yang smiled apologetically behind her own loud voice, "I kinda took that the wrong way..." Yang added at the end with a sheepish smile, which seemed to betray her own careless and upfront attitude.

Yet, Aen only chuckled to himself, the whole situation whilst unsavory and greatly confusing, was still somewhat comical to Aen. The entirety of the situation surrounded a collective misunderstanding that genuinely amused Aen, enough to the point of him allowing his chuckle to elevate into a slightly more whole hearted one.

Aen could now also obviously understand the disappointed look that was on Blake's face as well as Yang's own angered one. Aen could easily find himself understanding the disappointment that may have come if Ruby had actually done what Yang and her roommates had assumed.

"I take no offense to your misunderstandings." Aen stated with an underlying chuckle whilst lifting himself from his seated position.

Once he stood to his fullest he allowed the blanket that now only loosely stuck to him, to drape away onto the floor, turning itself into a discarded clump of fluff. "Do not fret either, I had no intentions of performing certain... actions" Aen did not miss how Ruby's cheeks reddened even more, considering her trait of easily being flustered it would make sense that her cheeks reddened even more than they already were.

"I was merely lacking residence," Aen gestured towards Ruby. "That of which she humbly supplied to me" Aen ended with an unseen smile that impressively mimicked that of a live person.

Yang allowed her own smile to surface, "Alrighty then big guy. So I'm guessing you still need your scroll back."

"That would be favorable." Aen curtly responded.

Upon the response Yang had reached over onto a nightstand that didn't sit far from the bathroom door, and from the carefully crafted wooden piece of furniture Yang pulled free Aen scroll from a cord that had been stuck into its bottom. Yang looked the scroll over, presumably studying the level of battery left on the newly 'charged' scroll.

Yet, Aen did not miss how Yang's face convulsed slightly, whatever it was about though Aen could not tell. Aen found his own curiosity growing as Yang continued to look over the scroll, studying some unseen discrepancy which was unknown to Aen from his position across the room.

Allowing his own curiosity to be influenced by a bout of mistrust, Aen began to walk across the room towards where Yang stood still studying his phone. Yet, as Aen came close enough to clearly make out all of Yang's features, he witnessed a few quick taps upon the screen's surface before the screen quickly found itself turned off.

"Thank you." Aen stated somewhat forcefully, with only barely traceable amounts of mistrust in his voice.

"No problem!" Yang responded quickly, handing over the device with an outstretched hand, yet once Aen laid his hand upon the device he could detect some underlying tones to Yang's speech, however, what they were he could not determine. Once Aen pulled the scroll into his own grasp he noticed yet another irregularity in Yang's stature, this time it was her smile.

It seemed forced, it was nothing like her normal smile. Her normal smile revealed the entirety of her teeth, both lips having been pulled back to the point of her squinting, yet this time it was different. Her lips didn't come back to their fullest, and her eyes still found themselves mostly open, yet as much as Aen tried to decipher the cause, he came fourth to no epiphanies.

"I was just wondering why it wasn't charging all that well." Yang added quickly after Aen pulled the scroll from his hand.

Whilst it seemed to be an attempt to clear the suspicious air that now surfaced, it only helped to strengthen Aen's curiosities. Now was not the time nor place he should dwell on them though, he could wait until he had left to do that.

Quickly ushering a goodbye in a manner that he hoped didn't seem peculiar, he excused himself from the room. Once he had entered the hallway he allowed his mind to run free with theories.

Yet, Aen hoped he wasn't over-thinking simple signs. Releasing an exhausted sigh Aen opened his scroll, maybe whatever it was that had caused Yang's reaction he could see as well.

She had said it wasn't charging well, but when Aen looked to the battery meter, it only read one hundred percent...

 **-S-**

 **Yes I know I have been gone for a very long time, but I definitely have not abandoned this story so don't worry. Recently I have had some VERY serious family issues and it's been very hard for every one in my family at the moment, and because of that I haven't been able to write recently.**

 **Don't worry though I am going to try and get back to a regular upload schedule, but that may be easier done than said. However, I would like to thank everyone that has followed and favorited the story, you guys literally keep me going.**

 **One other thing, regarding your review yesboss21. Oh my god that was quite the review buddy and I've got too say that you were a huge help in giving me motivation to right, I also like your ability to pick up on the religious references, what I was basically doing when creating everything was taking some of my favorite and least favorite things from a ton of religions and throwing them in with my own twists. So thank you so much for being able to pick up on that and review it. (FYI: Seraphim's name was actually a mistake, I messed up when writing it down but ended up keeping it because I liked the irony of it)**

 **I also apologise for any spelling mistakes, I didn't really have a lot of time to proofread. Anyways mah dudes,**

 **\- Stay Toasty, From Loasty Of The Toasty**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Expected mishaps

Aen held the ornately decorated golden lamp before his eyes by its equally royal handle, allowing himself to glare forwards into an unlit flame.

What he held was almost an exact copy of what Aesir had used to travel between the 'overworld' as gods referred to it, and the Elysium palace. The only present difference with Aen's own lantern was the absence of the comforting flame.

Of all the tools and abilities Aen had been provided with, this was one that he had wholly rejected to use during his time on Remnant, as far as he had seen it had no use to him. He found no need to return to Elysium, nor did he find any want to, yet now he was starting to value the usefulness of the lamp.

The way Aesir explained it while clear, was not comforting. Aesir had explained it as a utility used to traverse purgatory, allowing Aen a straight shot towards Elysium through a theoretical 'back door.' Even though Aen knew he could travel safely it didn't make it any more convincing to him, he had spent an undetermined amount of time within the grasp of purgatory, long enough for his body and soul to go to rot.

Purgatory was a place that held a place within Aen's conscious, yet not for its fondness of memory or pleasantries. Rather, it was a place that had tormented Aen with thoughts of failure and loneliness, a place with original good intentions of ambition, only became more akin to an abyss, hence the ulterior naming.

Now though, Aen found himself at a point where it would be beneficial to return to Elysium. He could clarify many things by talking with Aesir, and as much as he knew could be shared with Aesir, granted that he wasn't already watching, a slightly disconcerting thought to Aen. Yet, that was also a thought that brought an equal, if not, slight amount of comfort with it, knowing that the god could keep a watchful eye on anything he deemed interesting was an intriguing thought.

Not only could he clarify things however, but he could also take it as a chance to fix the holes that had annoyingly found themselves upon his armor. For the longest time Aen had said he would get around to fixing that, however, he never actually found himself going out of the way to do it. Now however, he had the chance to do so without any interruptions.

After leaving the room of team RWBY and with it, a suspicious air, he had actually been able to enter into his room. Albeit he had done so with slight amounts of trouble, working a scroll had proven itself to be a more frustrating task than Aen would like to agree to. However, he was still able to enter his room, and find it to be almost identical to that of team RWBY's. In fact, the more Aen studied it, the harder he found it to discern differences, the only obvious one being the absence of shoddily made bunk beds and unnecessary clutter. For now, Aen actually had two places he could stay privately, although Aen hardly trusted the security of the places, it still acted as a temporary home for him.

That actually brought up another reason for Aen to return to Elysium, it acted as a safe haven of sorts that he undoubtedly had amounts of access to. It was much safer and much more secure than the rented room of the hotel, and far more secluded as well, the more Aen had thought of it, the more he reprimanded himself for not returning sooner.

Yet again though Aen had found his mind drifting towards other partially related thoughts, in this case, that being of Rex and the young boy Danny. Rex had told him that if anything were to go awry and become of great disturbance, then he would inform Aen with haste, yet he had heard nary a call from the two companions. Aen genuinely worried for the safety of the boy, as well as Rex's security.

Danny wasn't exactly being supervised by that of a saint, Rex was far from that, and considering Rex's defection from the CFS, it would make little sense for him to have many allies. It was a worrying thought that at any moment any person who had held some amounts of hatred towards Rex, could now take a chance to exact their hatred, and indirectly upon Danny as well.

Yet, Aen didn't need his mind to be plagued with negative thoughts, rather he needed to focus on what it was that he had set himself out to do. So without allowing himself to spare a thought towards any partially related topic, he gazed into the flame of the intricate lamp.

Aen recalled the process of traveling with the lamp and allowed his vision to be fully enveloped by the light of the lamp, and once he did he slowly felt his body become lighter with each fleeting second. His body had almost felt as if it was floating before it was violently ripped free from the sensation of flight.

Yet Aen silently wished to himself that he had stayed within the comforting embrace of the lamp's light, because the sight that now greeted him was not one of comfort.

Total darkness.

Like the darkness of an abandoned tunnel, yet rather than having some fleeting sense of direction and orientation, Aen only felt a sense of confusion and misjudgment.

Although the scenery portrayed that of a complete blackout, with naught but the dim light of the golden lamp shining upon Aen's armored being, it had still fond itself home to a solid and flat ground. Yet the ground had gone unseen, only allowing Aen to appear as if he was floating within an abyss, which was not far from truth itself.

Aen could find no sense of direction, no landmark, no depth, and only a fleeting sense of light within the glow of the lamp.

However, Aen did not allow himself to lose his calm, even with his will being tantamount to iron, it was hard to stay sane within the blackness of an abyss. The duo of silence and darkness worked greatly upon the sentient mind of a human, and Aen found himself as no exception to the rule, if anything he found himself even more susceptible to purgatory's grasp.

Once again staring into the light of the lamp, Aen frantically allowed his vision to become enveloped by the golden flame of the lamp, all until his body once again welcomed the embrace of the lamp's transport.

As similarly as it had done before, Aen's vision slowly faded in from a bleary mess to a focused stare. Yet, this time he had not found himself staring into the dark of purgatory, rather he had found himself within the main hall of Elysium palace.

The great statue of Balder stood clearly at the end of the open columned room, this time Aen had even taken a moment to study the craftsmanship of the immaculate statue. It had been detailed to the finest point, from the wrinkles in his robes, to the hairs of his beard, Aen didn't doubt that Balder had made this himself. It did nothing but showcase the ability of the gods, even in it's run down state.

Beforehand Aen had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he never actually got to appreciate nor study the brilliance of the palace. The painted ceiling depicting tales of angels and wyverns, the unraveled carpet made of what only Aen could assume to be the finest fabric, and even the large statue of Balder. All of it was a perfect display of the pinnacle of craftsmanship and design, Aen was really on just beginning to comprehend the gravity of his current situation.

He was in the palace of the former gods.

All throughout his life he had devoted much of his time to the worship of the three gods, and had even allowed it to become a large part of his will. It had allowed him to be selected by the gods as a champion, and had even granted him the chance to directly speak with the gods. Yet, now he was within their home, as run down as it was.

It was an invigorating thought, and Aen had felt a sudden resurgence of his faith, albeit slight, it still granted hope to Aen.

However, before he could take time to consider more of his situation, the echoing sounds of footsteps touched at his ears.

"Aen?" A voice echoed out through the main hall of Elysium palace.

Aen had directed his sight towards the sounds and had taken in the form of Aesir walking towards him.

"Back I see?" Aesir spoke with a greeting smile.

-S-

Blake looked towards Yang, her face was not what she had usually determined it to be. It was one of confusion and definitely one of mistrust, it was all evident from the way Yang's eyes furrowed in thought, and the way she bit her bottom lip with concern.

"Ruby?" She spoke, freeing herself from her own ponderous stupor.

"Did that guy say anything weird to you? Anything that might sound kind of out of place?" She asked with a tone of confusion besides her being.

Ruby's face turned from one of a relief, to once again one of confusion and slight amounts of concern.

"No, why?" She questioned.

Blake was also interested at this point, as well as Weiss by the looks of it. Weiss was known by Blake to not be one for welcoming first impressions, especially when it involved things that were out of her own field of knowledge, and judging by Weiss's almost smug look, she seemed to suspect that something may have been up with the mysterious armored man.

"Because I saw some weird messages on his phone."

Blake had already figured out that Yang had seen something she had not expected, she hardly hid it well. Yang's expressions were always as clear as day, and it didn't help that she had so openly showcased it directly before Aen, who Blake had noted clearly noticed Yang's confusion.

As it stood, Aen was much of an enigma to Blake, and yet he once again found himself caught up with the team, once seemingly by coincidence, and another by Ruby's own naivety. Yet, Blake still couldn't comprehend the man, he didn't talk much aside from small talk and introductions, and he had refused to remove that armor. Blake, having been hiding something all her life, knew very clearly that Aen was hiding something. Whether it was from the way he talked by providing only broken fragments of who he was and what he did, or from the way he refused to remove his armor even going so far as to sleep in it, it was all clear that he was hiding something.

And now that Yang had found something that could possibly open up the team's doors to who Aen really was, Blake found herself listening closely, even speaking up in the hopes that Yang would continue.

"What did you find?" She asked with a barely contained amount of eagerness.

Yang looked directly towards Blake before beginning, "Fist off I think this guy is involved with the White Fang."

Blake's eyes widened and her attention found itself more focused on what Aen had to say then it had ever been before.

"What do you mean?" She asked, allowing curiosity to drive her speech.

"Well, he had these texts from this number saying, 'Aen it's Danny, Rex has been gone for almost the whole day and he hasn't come back, he even left his phone here. Is he with you?'" Yang spoke, trying her best to repeat what it was that she read.

"But that doesn't really mean anything, so get this." Yang spoke, allowing herself to become even more enveloped in the mystery of Aen.

"The same number texts him again later saying, 'Aen Rex hasn't come back at all today and I'm starting to think this might because of that guy you were after. You really shouldn't get involved with the White Fang Aen.'"

At this point everyone's attention was clearly being drawn towards what Yang had to say, this was information that cast an entirely new light on who Aen really was, and that light was hardly pretty. Blake found her four ears perking up upon all of this new information.

Before anyone could question anything though Yang spoke once again, interrupting the confused silence, "But that's not all of it, this guy then gets 7 missed calls from the same number and a text saying, 'Please pick up Aen'"

The room was left in a collective silence after Yang had finished speaking, every member was left in a state of either great confusion or a large sense of worry, Blake had only found herself feeling both emotions equally. This was all greatly concerning information, not only because of her prior experiences with the White Fang, but also because of the fact that the mystery man that had suddenly shown up may be involved with the White Fang. The same mystery man that they had openly conversed with and allowed into their room.

"You don't think he's working for them do you?" Ruby spoke up from next to Yang, allowing a certain amount of concern to drive her.

Ruby had never been one to sit by and let things happen, it was a clearly evident fact which was easily shown by her selfless acts that seemingly put her own life as the second priority. So now that a situation such as this one was surfacing, it would make sense that Ruby's protective instincts would kick in.

"No, he can't be" Blake spoke, answering the question that Ruby had directed to no particular member of the room. "When I was with Sun at the White Fang deal, Aen was also there, and he was fighting the White Fang, not helping."

Blake supplying this information only complicated the situation even more, but Blake also thought that she had a hopefully clear idea of what may be going on with Aen.

Aen had very clearly shown himself to be of the opposite alignment to the White Fang, and judging by the way Aen had intently pursued Roman Torchwick, Blake could only assume that this was the person that number had said he was after.

"I think that he was after Roman actually, now that I think about it." Blake spoke up, trying to allow the rest of the group a small amount of insight towards what Blake thought could possibly be going on with the mysterious armored man.

However, before Blake could elaborate, Weiss who had been silent during most of the discussion had decided to enter her input. "Well of course he was after Roman!" She spoke out with an amount of confidence Blake had been too negligent to accept.

"Who else would he be after? Think about it, he's obviously not friends with the White Fang and that number said he was after someone, who else would he be going after?" Weiss added, but without faltering or hesitating for a second she continued.

"I bet you those savages were the reason this number keeps calling Aen. They must have done something to that caller." Weiss spoke with noticeable amounts of disgust traceable amongst her posture and speech.

Blake spoke out, attempting to add to the mystery that had presented itself, albeit with a slight annoyance for Weiss's attitude. "Alright, then if Aen's after Roman then they probably went after the people he's working with. There's no way Aen could be working alone with what he's doing, and we even have proof of it now."

Not allowing anyone a moment to speak however, Ruby had blurted out allowing her protective instincts to drive her, "We need to do something then!" She yelled. "There's someone with their life at stake and Aen probably doesn't even know about it yet, we can't just wait for Aen to notice that something's wrong, we need to move in and help!" She added, disregarding any thoughts of possibly thinking the situation through.

As expected, Weiss had been the first to speak up against what Ruby was saying. She had arrogantly crowned herself a sort of voice of reason over her headstrong partner.

"We can't do that! We barely even know this Aen person, we have no idea what he's working towards and for all we know he could be working for some other entirely different terrorist organization. We can't go after things that we don't know about!" She spoke attempting to talk sense into the naive girl.

Ruby once again spoke up, not allowing anyone else in the room to properly voice their stand, "Of course we can do that! We're huntresses! It's our job to protect the people and their lives no matter the threat, and this sounds like something that requires the work of a huntress!"

"In training!" Weiss shouted, "We are huntresses in training, this isn't something we should be getting involved in as students!"

Ruby opened her mouth to retort, but was stopped by her older sisters hand, which was found itself placed gently upon Ruby's shoulder in a calming form of gesture.

"Sis, calm down." Yang spoke slowly, to which Ruby's face visibly dropped in a manner of disappointed embarrassment.

"I don't want another big argument to start so how you guys just need to calm down." Yang discussed, attempting to calm the argument before it could become any more tense.

"What if some of us just go check out whatever is going on, and whoever doesn't want to get involved can just stay behind and catch up later." Yang proposed.

However, the tense atmosphere that had quickly been sapped from the room, returned as quickly as it left after Yang had finished speaking.

"What!?" Weiss shouted. "You're taking her side! Yang, you're her sister, you shouldn't let her be doing this!"

The seldom lived peace of the room was now but an ideology rather than a reality, the indifference and differing opinions once again returning to the room.

"Look, Weiss." Yang began, "Ruby's got the right idea, Aen's going off to do his own thing and I cleared the messages when he came over to take his phone back. So, chances are he hasn't even checked yet, it might even be too late before he realizes the situation he's in, and because of that I think Ruby's right, we should step in and help out."

It was clear Weiss was dissatisfied to say the least, her twitching eyebrow, clenched fists, and scowl were all very evident of that. She had thought herself to be the most responsible one on the team when it came to making decisions, yet it seemed her teammates cared little for the responsible approach. That had done very little to help seize her already unkempt anger.

However, before she could even get a chance to retaliate with an undoubtedly long-winded explanation of her reasonings, the voice of the cat-eared faunas had hit her ears.

"I agree also." Blake spoke simply, only serving to bewilder Weiss to her fullest extent. She still held some amount of faith in the faunas to make the correct decision, yet she had found that faith handed wholeheartedly back to her without a second thought.

"Blake!?" Weiss shouted, "Don't tell me you're actually agreeing with them, I would've thought you would know better!"

"Ruby's right, Weiss." Blake spoke, "If Aen doesn't know what's going on, then we can't just sit back while someone is clearly in danger. Plus he's made it clear that we have a common enemy, both being the White Fang. We need to do something Weiss."

"All of you can't be serious?" Weiss spoke with a tone that spoke more of defeat than it did anger.

"It's the right thing to do." Ruby spoke. However she had not done so insultingly, rather she was doing so to help sway Weiss's opinion, hoping to have her switch her views.

Weiss only stood with her eyes closed, clearly trying to calm her enraged self. There was a certain silence in the room while Weiss stood unspeaking, enough to the point that the tension was greater than that of the argument itself. A Schnee was easily comparable to a bomb, and knowing that she stood silent within the room where she had just lost an important argument, was a worrying thought.

The tension had thankfully never reached its climax though, as a slow sigh had escaped Weiss's lips. An easily distinguishable sign of resignation.

"Fine." She spoke.

A very noticeable air of unease had been quickly lifted from the room with only one spoken word.

"But don't think I want to get involved in this. I'm just going to take up Yang's offer and stay behind until this all blows over, I do not want to get in trouble because of these stupid things." Weiss spoke sternly and hurriedly, attempting to get her point across clearly.

But before she could end off on positive remarks she made one more comment, "Do you guys even know how you're gonna find the guy? It's not like Aen's just gonna tell you where he is you know."

The point that Weiss had brought up was fairly concerning to both Blake and Ruby, yet it seemed otherwise to Yang, as she had only allowed for a mischievous smile to find its way upon her face. With the smile still on her face, Yang crossed her arms in a gesture of confidence, "I already know how."

Blake seemed to have caught onto some sort of underlying tone, yet hadn't encroached on it, and instead opted to ask about Yang's plan.

"Well, what it is it?" She asked briefly.

Yang tapped a finger to her head. "I remember the number I saw on Aen's phone."

"I say we just give him a call, ask him what going on and then lend a hand." Yang spoke with a smile, seemingly attempting to brag about her own plan, which she had failed to notice had many flaws. However, the discrepancies had not flown over Blake's head.

"Yang" She began with a disappointed deadpan, "Did you not think any of your plans through? You're gonna call a kid say you know Aen and then ask where he lives, you know that's the kind of technique pedophiles use." She stated with some hints of amusement only barely traceable in her voice.

Yang's proud smile quickly dimmed to a straight face, and then to one of realization, a realization that her plan was clearly not fully fleshed out. The more she considered Blake's words, the more she seemed to understand the truth in the statement.

Yet, no matter how either of them saw it, there were very few other methods of finding the mysterious caller on the other end of the phone, and a sense of urgency had yet to make itself apparent amongst the skeptical half of the team. Perhaps, there were other methods but considering the tone of the messages it was clear that the caller was feeling immense desperation, and disparity was an attributing factor in fleeting decisions.

"Well." Yang began again, hoping to defend her plan with some points that neither could deny. "We can always tell the person that we're from Beacon, we can tell that Aen is obviously up to something with Ozpin, and if this guy on the other end knows this then why wouldn't he believe us... ya know."

The point that Yang had brought up clearly betrayed her own levels of intelligence, as it was a rather fair point that had made progress in swaying Blake's opinion on Yang's hastily made yet not unruly plan. What was apparent though was that they needed to take some chance to help, lest they loose their opportunity to not only live up to their titles, but to potentially save a life as well.

"Ok, I guess that makes sense." Blake responded agreement. "We won't get anywhere if we don't try anyways." It was a surprise that Blake had been so easily persuaded, yet a welcome one to the rest of the team, they didn't have many other options anyways, and judging from how desperate the texts sounded...

Although that last sentence was clearly a sign of her agreement, she had said so with an underlying solemnity, as if she held a relation to the current situation. However, considering the past that was now newly known to her teammates it would make sense that her senses of accomplishment would resurface. Yet, those tones had gone unnoticed to even Blake herself, only for the briefest of moments could it have been tangible.

Yang only smiled in triumph, whilst her sister looked on with her own anticipating glare. She reached a hand into her pocket, pulling free her own scroll, and when she opened it she strained to remember the number, it wasn't that complicated anyways.

-S-

Aen stood his scabbard against the stone wall of the now secluded room, and watched as ethereal ice danced around the finger he had outstretched. His magic, whilst elementary was a useful thing that he enjoyed the pleasantries of from time to time, even if his sword had outshone his simple magic's elementary. After returning he had found himself retiring to a room shortly after his return to the eroded Elysium palace.

The room was hardly anything special to the inhabitants that once lived within the palace, however to Aen, it was more than enough for him. It wouldn't irk his ire even if he had lived within the lowliest quarters of the palace, for no matter how cramped or destroyed the room was it didn't matter, rather it was the known fact that he had a place within the palace that mattered.

Though it was far from its glory days, it was still a rejuvenating thought to dwell upon, Aen only wished he could have witnessed the tranquil bustle of the once divine palace. It was a place of unparalleled faith and worship, a fortress of hope amongst an otherwise cruel world, an escape where weary souls could retreat to in the afterlife. Aen knew the rules though, only the most virtuous men could seal themselves a place firmly within the palace, the other souls would rather wander the peaceful plains of Elysium.

Whilst Aen had clearly seen the palace, and had even seen the depictions in tomes and murals, it was only a fleeting thought of the hopeful that did very little to compare to the divinity of the palace itself. Yet, Aen had never gotten clear view of the outside of the palace.

Aen himself knew little of what could be found behind the palace doors, but he assured himself that whatever beauty that once thrived outside the walls of the palace, was one incomparable to any place from his home world. Sadly though, if what Aesir had told Aen was true, then whatever was out those doors was now a sight that reeked only of decay and corruption, the grasps of demons firmly clenched upon the outside.

The thoughts only strengthened his resolve to complete his task, Seraphim had been the malignant example of impurity for every waking man and flora upon the surface, yet he still stood in a careful state of hiding.

It was unlike Seraphim, which was a clear thought that Aen had neglected to indulge upon before, his own rage and focus not allowing him to do so.

Both Aen and Aesir clearly knew that within enough time, the power of one will eventually diminish to a point of futility. It had even happened with Seraphim's own power, within time it faded away from the annals of the world's history, until it become but a distant memory to those of the current time.

A blank section of history...

Yet, unlike Aen himself it had not disappeared, only it had waited until it could once again resurface. However, determining when that very force could resurface was a daunting task of chance, one that slowly wilted away at Aen's own sanity.

He had little time to think over the entirety of the situation till now, except perhaps for his down time upon his travel to Vale, yet he had spent most of that time devising his actions. Aen clearly knew that Seraphim was in hiding, assuredly because of his loss of power, it was a sealed fact at this point.

However, it was still strange to Aen...

The relentless demon that stopped at naught to complete whatever warped task he had in mind, was now in hiding, with a nary peep coming from him. It was unlike the demon to simply stand by whilst opportunities ran wild, even with his diminished powers Aesir had surmised that he was still very capable of doing what he had done many years before.

So why did he not act?

Did he know that Aen was about and was hiding for that reason, or are there others unknown factors at play that are keeping him at bay, whatever it was, it was no doubt strange.

It was a thought that needed not much indulgence however, Aen knew his goal, and it was his only purpose now.

However, Aen's ever fervent mind once again strew from its stricken path, an occurrence not uncommon to Aen nor his conscious.

He had been wrong, there was one other thing that concerned his attention.

It was of the well being of the boy and his caretaker, Danny and Rex. The more that Aen had pondered on it the more he had become aware that he had made very little contact with the two recently. Although he had only been gone for perhaps a few days, it was still a long outing without a single word from the two, it was only a more worrying thought considering Rex's previous 'profession'

Rex assuredly did not find himself with a clean record of his actions, they were things much rebellious in the end. It really did very little to ease the worries that already ran wild about Danny and his well being.

Perhaps it may seem selfish that he had found his mind's care drifting towards the boy rather than his miscreant caretaker, but he held trust within the man's abilities to take care of himself. However, Aen did not doubt the boys own abilities as well, if he were capable of sustaining his own life for as long as he did with very little to no guidance, then he had certainly done enough to set himself apart from the other people that Aen had taken to observing in this world.

Yet, these thoughts still didn't help to calm Aen's rapid mind.

Perhaps he owed the two a visit, it may actually prove beneficial to what he worked towards. He had already surmised that his next goal would to be to investigate the peculiarities of this old religion which found its worship surrounding 'Seraphim.' Yet, that didn't mean that he knew exactly where to begin in these actions, after-all, up until this point he had only found himself loosely following the guidance that Aesir had briefly provided with scarce relativity to what he actually needed to accomplish.

Aen had also found Rex to be just as reliable of a source of information as Aesir had been, Rex had been the one that had pointed him towards all of his ever-changing objectives until now, which made him a valuable ally to Aen. Perhaps, even an ally that Aen could vaguely consider a friend in this new time, he hadn't acquired many that he actually conversed with upon levels of intimacy belike to that of two friends in the end.

So, if Rex was able to point him towards all of his goals until now, what stopped him from being ale to allow at least a smidgen of enlightenment upon religion, which Aen felt more befitting to call a cult.

However, as much as Aen knew that he would need to return to the inn he had stayed at nights prior to his departure to Beacon, he still found a certain amount of difficulty in doing so. Not so much because he couldn't, or other discrepancies that had held his course of action, but rather he found himself struggling to do so because he truly felt no want to leave the Elysium palace.

It was certainly a place of great reverence which held enough of a calm aura to it to subdue even the angriest of men, however the irrelevant aura Aen had thought up even worked it powers on himself. Leaving him with little reason to want to leave, aside from a call to his responsibilities which burned with a certain urgency within Aen's gut.

With the way Aen's newly ever active mind worked, drawing situations together from simple similarities to the furthest fetched details, it never stayed in one place for long. Which led him back to a topic that he should have found himself indulging upon earlier in his return to the corroding palace, his scroll.

Whatever Yang had seen within the scroll's contents had been enough to push the room he had regrettably stayed a night within, from a diffused tension to a heavy room filled with abundantly noticeable tension. So whatever it had been that Yang saw must have been important, and Aen had inwardly cursed himself for not allowing his attention to brought to this earlier.

Allowing himself to take action, Aen reached into the leather pouch he had kept his scarcely used scroll, alongside the other things he had collected and been given. He pulled it free, neglecting any regards of the fragility of the object itself, and began to use the object that had been the source of previous frustration to him.

Aen actually had very little experience with the object itself but had found himself picking up on the general applications and uses of the device, the more he looked it over the more it had actually occurred to him how useful the object actually was, His observations still did very little to ease his earlier frustrations with the object however.

He had allowed those thoughts to slip from his mind though and instead decided to actually focus his efforts into discovering what had infatuated the blonde haired girl to the point of secrecy. As he navigated throughout the multiple confusing pictures on the scroll with a great deal of his mind being focused on how to actually work the thing, he came across several messages which he had quickly allowed his eyes to brush over.

Only after realizing who the messages were sent from though did it actually dawn upon him that what he was reading was important.

They were from Danny, and the news they carried hardly harbored good omens.

A knot twisted itself within Aen's stomach as he read.

His indecisive desires to leave the palace now held no opposition...

-S-

Yang looked at the street sign, then back towards her scroll, and once again to the street sign.

"Yang, how long are you gonna keep doing that. This is the street." Ruby spoke with a tone of annoyance that held traceable amounts of urgency and impatience to it.

The most of their time had been spent with Yang stopping every few minutes to make sure that they were heading in the right direction, even though it was very clear to Ruby that they were heading in the correct direction and had been for the longest time.

It almost made Ruby regret not taking Blake with them.

It really made Ruby regret not taking Blake with them actually.

They probably would have arrived at where they needed to be had Blake come with the two rather than staying with Weiss after her argument about how she "Wouldn't stay alone while everyone went on a wild goose chase!"

It made sense that Weiss made someone stay with her though, she wasn't as well acquainted with team JNPR as the rest of team RWBY was, so she couldn't just stay with them for the team's outing, and Ruby was already very set on her decision as was Yang from the start. So the only other person being left that had actually volunteered to stay with Weiss had ended up being Blake in the end.

Ruby cursed the heiress for her hatred of being left alone, yet really didn't hate her for it. It was actually kind of cute to Ruby that the ice princess needed her attention, what wasn't cute however was how Yang continued to check her scroll to make sure that the directions the boy had given them were correct.

"Just hold on Ruby I'm trying to figure something out here. I think I've got it now." Yang spoke with her eyes glued to her scroll and one hand haphazardly waving Ruby off.

"Ya know, I'm starting to think that kid gave us the wrong directions." Yang had muttered to herself, however it had not gone unheard to Ruby.

It wouldn't make sense though, Ruby thought. Why would the kid that sounded so relieved to hear of a friendly person that knew Aen, give them the wrong directions to get to him? Yang had done the talking but that didn't mean that everyone else didn't know how the conversation had gone down.

The kid had even answered almost immediately after Yang had called the number, almost like he was waiting for someone to call.

Even though Ruby knew Yang was a lot better in social situations than her it still surprised her that the boy had been so willing to share what had actually been going on, and even trusting enough to allow Yang and Ruby to help him out with practically no convincing. The kid most have been worried out of his mind to have been that responsive to Yang of all people.

It kind of reminded Ruby of the times when Yang made her watch horror movies with her when they were little, and Ruby would get so scared that she would always make Yang take her up to her room or get her some food for the fridge because she was too scared to do it herself.

That was a kind of a stretch though... ok maybe it was a big stretch Ruby concluded. The similarities still were there in Ruby's mind at least.

"Yang we both know that doesn't make sense. Just keep going, ok?"

If Yang hadn't spent a majority of her time stopping at every intersection, every street sign, and every notable building, then they probably would have been there by now. Nevertheless though, Ruby knew that they were getting at least a little closer to where they needed to be, Yang had already gone through so many of the directions at this point that they had to be nearing the destination.

Yang threw her free hand up that wasn't holding her scroll, "Ok Ok, I'm just making sure Ruby."

She looked at her scroll.

Then back at the next street sign...

"Yang!"

"I got it!" She yelled back.

"That's the right street!" She yelled triumphantly with a finger pointed towards the street sign that had been before them for perhaps the last few minutes.

Ruby just sighed, she didn't really understand her sister sometimes.

They had been at the same street for the longest time and Yang was just now confirming that they were going the right way when they had obviously not taken any wrong step on the way here.

"Then it should be around the corner right?" Ruby asked genuinely, hoping she wouldn't draw her sister into checking her scroll multiple times to make sure it actually was around the corner.

Yang nodded her head, thankfully refraining from checking her scroll once more. "I think so, if we head down the street it should be just over there."

Yang pointed a finger down the block, until it then trailed to the corner of the block, pointing towards the bend.

Ruby spoke up, bringing upon a question as they walked towards the bend. "What was the kid's name again? I can't remember."

Yang reached a hand to her chin in thought, small amounts of just noticeable panic traced her face for the briefest second, "Oh, uh, what was it again."

Ruby deadpanned at Yang, "You forgot his name?" She asked with a straight face, questioning her own sister's intelligence.

"No! I didn't forget it, it's just hard to remember." Yang yelled out in protest.

"It was like... Ray, or something like that..." Yang spoke slowly, coming to the realization that she had pretty much forgotten the name of the kid that the entire outing was based around.

"How do you even forget that?" Ruby questioned, surprisingly calm, talking with more disappointment than any amount of anger... which was worse anyways.

Yang waved her hands dismissively, and with a sheepish smile just spoke, "Ah don't worry about it!"

Ruby just sighed again, she had come to expect these kinds of things from her sister anyways, as long as they knew where they were going and what they had to do it didn't matter at this point.

"Fine, you're gonna be doing the talking though if we have to." Ruby retorted in response to Yang's shortcomings.

Yang just threw a hand onto her little sister's head messing with her hair as she spoke back with a smile, "I planned on it anyways!"

Before Ruby even had a chance to fix her hair, they had arrived at the bend and had come to face a fairly plain apartment building, which had a structure that resembled a Motel rather than the intended apartment building look.

"Is that it?" Ruby asked.

"It should be. He said it was just a plain apartment building, that's what that looks like to me." Yang responded, looking over the aspects of the building, trying to find any details that could have matched a description given to her before that she had trouble recalling.

Ruby ran her hands through her hair, fixing the mess that Yang had created of her hair before saying, "Well why don't we go in?"

Providing a silent nod, Yang followed after Ruby through the main doors of the apartment building, hoping that the kid they were hoping to help out would be easy to actually fine, despite Yang having forgotten the name.

The room was simple, a few waiting chairs, but both of the girls' attention was brought towards the main desk, where a girl, presumably the owner (or secretary), rifled through some unseen compartments behind the desk.

As Yang approached with her younger sister in tow it became more apparent that the girl behind the counter hadn't taken any notice of her, she had obviously been more infatuated with whatever she was messing with behind the desk. The sisters stopped a few feet before the desk, Yang having cleared her throat to draw attention to the fact that the two of them were there.

The woman behind the desk jumped in surprise, a loud bang being produced from whatever she was messing with, as she turned around startled.

Her frantic purple eyes quickly searched the room before coming rest on Yang's form as well as her sister for a fleeting moment.

"Oh, Hello!" She spoke frantically, shoving a container that was in her hand into a drawer behind the desk with an amount of discreetness that had failed to go unnoticed by the two sisters of all people.

"Sorry, I didn't even hear you two come in." She spoke with a smile, "I was so busy fixing things back up over here that I didn't even notice you guys come in!" She pronounced, throwing her arms up onto the counter, making her already shapely form more apparent.

"So what do you girls need?" She questioned kindly, flicking a bit of her brown hair away from her eye.

"We, uh.." Yang began, wondering to herself how she was to phrase any of this. She hadn't really thought through how she was going to word her intentions exactly. She wasn't just going to say that there was a boy who possibly was involved with the white fang staying in her apartments.

Throwing away any want for a plan, Yang just decided to talk away.

"Well, we're actually looking for a friend here. We're from Beacon and so we wanted to stop by real quick." She spoke with a smile, talking behind a small lie.

"Is there an Aen, that's staying here?" Yang questioned. Since she had forgotten the name of the kid, finding if Aen had stayed with the kid would probably lead them to the same place in the end. He had contacted Aen after all, so there was an obvious connection between the two.

The entire stature of the woman seemed to have just slightly perked up upon Yang's pronunciation of Aen's name. However, it was a barely noticeable quirk to both Yang and her younger sister, who stood silently next to Yang, fiddling with her hands as she waited through the conversation.

"Yeah, where's that guy been? It's been a little bit since he stopped by." The woman spoke back, responding to Yang's question with one of her own.

"Not sure where he is right now, but he just stopped by Beacon earlier to talk." Yang responded, putting her and Ruby under the ruse that they were friends with the armored enigma.

"But I just wanted to know if he's got a kid with him here? He wanted me to stop by and check up on him." Yang spoke, once again telling a lie all behind an expertly crafted veil of nonchalance. Ruby seemed to have caught onto the lying, but thankfully her naturally good willed self didn't call Yang out on it.

The brown haired girl rested her head in her palm, thinking for a moment before responding to the sisters. "Yeah, I remember now. The kid's been here for a little while, I'm pretty sure he's upstairs if you want to go talk to him."

Yang smiled, partially to be friendly, and partially for the fact that her lies lead her to where she needed to be going.

"Thank you so much!" Yang spoke with a smile.

"No problem." She responded. The lady returned her own smile, however it had morphed into more of a smirk as Yang caught sight of her eyes quickly trailing themselves up her body, in one discreet motion that may have been meant for Yang to just slightly pick up.

Second guessing her own eyes, Yang left her mouth open for a moment before continuing her speech. "Uh, What room number is he?" She questioned, struggling to keep her confident air about herself as she almost found herself getting lost in the lady's surprisingly beautiful eyes.

The woman wasn't even all that bad looking the more that Yang considered it, her figure almost capable of making Yang doubt her own. Especially considering the way that she leaned over the counter just enough to show off h-

"Room 16 on the second floor." She said, turning back around to rummage through some of the things she had been working with before.

Yang shook her head, removing any thoughts that had just found their way into her mind unannounced.

Where did that come from? She thought to herself, a little taken back that those thoughts had freely entered her mind.

Deciding she shouldn't stay around for too long unless those thoughts decided to come back, she ushered a final thanks and made her way to the stairs with Ruby quickly in tow behind her as she walked just a bit faster than she usually did.

Even as she started to walk up the stairs Yang felt a glare at her back, and when she peeked over her shoulder to check, she came to realize that the glare was a bit lower than her back. A slightly unnerving thought to even the notably flirtatious Yang, escpecially since such sctions came from another girl. Swallowing hard Yang hurried up the stairs and out of view with a confused and equally worried Ruby following behind.

"Yang?" Ruby spoke up from behind Yang as they reached the hallway of the second floor.

"You ok? You looked a little nervous back there." Ruby questioned, bringing light to something that Yang herself didn't quite even understand, she was operating fine until...

"Yeah I'm all good, I just kinda dazed off trying to think up another lie." Yang smiled, attempting to ease Ruby's worries.

Ruby looked at Yang unconvinced, "You sure?" She questioned, held tilted in and eyes narrow. Yang just smiled again, attempting to divert Ruby's inquisitive mind, "All good sis, if anything you looked a little bit more nervous than me. You were just fiddling with your thumbs the whole time." She joked back to her, hoping to ease her worries.

Although Ruby wasn't convinced she didn't get a moment capitalize on the peculiarity, before Yang spied out a number on one of the doors reading off 16.

"Look, room 16. That's the one." Yang spoke, pointing towards a door only a couple doors down from where they currently stood.

As they approached, Yang gave Ruby a quick glance, seemingly sizing her up before asking, "Ready?"

Ignoring the fact that Yang had blatantly changed the subject, Ruby just decided to agree with a nod, signaling to Yang that she was ready.

Yang outstretched her arm and gave a quick knock on the door's hard surface before puling back and giving Ruby an anticipating smile with a subtle thumbs up. It was a superficial gesture, but a comforting one that Ruby had come to love about her sister.

There was a quiet shuffling on the other side of the door that Ruby could just barely make out above the ambient noises of the surrounding apartment. The sound moved about before it came to a stop, the only other sound being a quiet voice coming from behind the door.

"You guys are from Beacon?" The voice questioned from behind the door.

Ruby followed Yang's gaze as it stopped at the small peephole just below the number marking the room placed upon the door.

Yang spoke up, being careful not to speak too loudly for fear of worrying the already on edge kid.

"Yeah, I'm Yang and this is my little sister Ruby." A hefty pat on the younger girl's shoulder gestured towards who Yang spoke of.

"We're Aen's friends. We called earlier." Yang responded, adding clarification to their identities as well as there reasoning which the boy was probably already aware of.

A moment of brief silence followed before, the sound of a lock shifting from its place became apparent to the sisters' ears.

The door slid open just enough for the kid to poke a head through the crack from behind the safety of the door's fragility. Yang now was now beginning to realize just how young the boy actually was, sure he had sounded young when they had talked over their scrolls, it still didn't take away from the fact that the boy was younger than Yang had guessed. However, that was just what Yang was able to tell from looking at him, it seemed as if he was maybe a year younger than Yang's own sister, or perhaps even the same age, it was unclear however.

The boy released a small sigh before opening the door to it's fullest and offering a noticeably forced smile to the two siblings.

"Thanks for helping out. My name's Danny by the way" He spoke behind tired tones that spoke of countless nights with little proper rest. However, Yang had only picked up on the name he had said... she was close enough before.

Yang allowed a smile to become plastered across her face, it was a good feeling to her knowing that they were doing their part to help as huntresses. Even if they were just in training.

"Hey no problem kid, that's what we're hear for!" Yang spoke, allowing her usually boisterous attitude to take over as she spoke aloud.

The boy made an inviting gesture with a wave of his hand, "I guess we should talk in here." He spoke before stepping aside and allowing room for the two to come through the door.

"You got it." Yang spoke, before slamming a hand onto her sister's back to push her along with her, eliciting a quiet yelp from the unsuspecting younger sister.

As the two siblings entered the room, Yang had thought that as the door closed she could just barely make out a head of brown hair making it's way up the stairs. Her timing was unlucky though, and Yang hadn't been allowed a chance to second what she saw before she had completely entered the room, the door closing behind her.

Deciding to disregard what she had thought she may have seen for now, Yang made her way towards the center of the room where Ruby sat on one of the two beds in the room, waiting for anyone to say anything. Ruby hadn't done much talking since they got here anyways, not with other people at least.

She cursed her social inabilities at times.

Following suit, Yang plopped herself down on the bed next to where Ruby had found herself.

"So what's the problem exactly?" She asked, deciding to get things to the point.

While they had talked on their scrolls beforehand, it had only really included a brief description explaining to the older sister that a friend of his had gone missing and that he didn't know what to do. Their may have been other details thrown in, but as they made their way here, Yang's memory of the actual situation found itself replaced with the directions to the place itself.

She could ask for a refresher anyways.

Sitting on the bed opposite from where Yang and Ruby had both found themselves sitting together, Danny sighed, racking his brain on ways to start to explain his current dilemma.

Danny ran several fingers through his short brown hair, ruffling it even more than it already had been.

"Where do I even start with this one..."

 **~S~**

 **F me. That just about sums up my recent experiences, and guess who's not actually dead? I am very aware of how long it's been since I last updated this story, but like I have said before, I will not abandon it without letting anyone know beforehand.**

 **But before I say anything else you guys should really hear just how 'lucky' I have been recently. So to kick things off my computer broke, like, won't even start, need to buy a new one kind of broken. Now guess who had all of their chapters that they were working on for this story on that computer, yup, me! Give or take a month and then I finally get a new computer and then I'm actually able to start writing again.**

 **But you guys don't care about that anyways, but I just want to give out a very sincere thanks to everyone that has followed or favorited this story. You guys are actually the soul reason I continue to write after my series of wonderful events. It's just an amazing feeling to know people enjoy what I put out.**

 **So a huge thank you to anyone who still kept with this story after it went on vacation.**

 **Also an apology for any spelling mistakes, I'm not the best when it comes to proofreading, also I'm pretty lazy.**

 **So any reviews if you want, feel free to leave them.**

 **\- Stay Toasty, From Loasty of the Toasty**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Embodiment of the past

Danny released a sigh, one of a myriad of gestures of defeated resignation that had been expressed throughout his talk with the two huntresses.

"It's been a long weekend." He expressed tiredly, any amount of mental urgency that had once enveloped his worried figured had quickly left him. In its place had come a more tired and defeated sense of inability.

"I get here thinking that I can maybe live a normal life for a bit, and the only person I can call a friend goes missing, and the only other person I know leaves." Danny spoke, slight pangs of sadness traceable to his voice. However, it was clearly hidden behind a careful veil.

Ruby leaned in, almost feeling a kind of relation to what the boy was saying, it almost made her sad just listening to the boy talk.

Before Ruby had a chance to shed any amount of advice to the boy, her older sister had spoken up before her.

"So who's missing exactly?" She asked, hoping for any amount of clarification on the subject of who they were after.

"A good friend of mine." Danny replied, "His name is Rex, I've known him for a while, long enough to think highly of him." He clarified.

"In all honesty, it doesn't even surprise me. He never was a careful man." Danny spoke in remembrance, recalling the brief moments he had shared with Rx before their initial separation.

Allowing her sense of morality to take heed, Ruby spoke back hoping to gather more information as to what happened other than the scare fragments they had been given.

"So what happened to him exactly, do you know?" She asked, "If not do you have any idea." She could have come off as too forward to the boy but she needed information if she wanted to help, and simple pleasantries should be one to spare.

Danny's face went blank, he had clearly known some information that he was prepared to share, but he himself was utterly unsure of Rex's whereabouts. It only helped to complicate his already fervent mind.

"I have one idea." He began.

"Did you guys talk with the lady at the desk on the way in?" Danny asked, making eye contact with both Ruby and Yang as he spoke, looking for some reaction that could easily be recalled from the eccentric woman.

Ruby spared a glance towards Yang's face and watched as an abashed yet subtle expression crossed her face for only the briefest moment, however long enough for the sibling to detect her embarrassment for the subtle actions from earlier.

Clearing her throat Yang spoke up, "Yeah we saw her, she's kinda strange. Why'd you bring that up though?"

Through the way Yang had spoken, Ruby was able to pick up on an emotion she couldn't put a name too. She just brushed it off though, allowing herself to give her sister the benefit of the doubt. She seemed to know what was best for her most times anyway.

Danny looked towards Yang, "Her name's Orona. I think she has something to do with all of this. There is no way she doesn't, something about her is just... Off." Danny spoke slowly allowing his eyes to waver off as he talked more about the lady in the lobby.

"The guy that went missing, his name's Rex. I was..." Danny paused, allowing Ruby to watch as a slew of emotions ran across the young boy's face, all ending in a sorrowful gaze towards the floor. "Close with him, for a long time."

Seeing that the emotions in the room quickly favored resentment rather than compassion, Ruby decided that it could be her time to speak.

Surprising herself and the other occupants of the room, Ruby spoke out loudly.

"We can help!" She shouted.

Smiling timidly as two pairs of eyes gazed at, she continued, albeit softer.

"We're huntresses, it's what we do. We help people that are in need, it's our job." Ruby spoke proudly with determination in her eyes, something about the young boy had kindled a flame inside her, with a desire to show her worth. Seeing the way he looked off with an emptiness in his eyes had pushed Ruby to help, it wasn't right to see a face like that, especially not with someone so young.

"What do we need to do?" She asked, looking the boy in his eyes as she spoke. Yang had only watched on with a smile.

A smile returned to Danny's face, it was small, but it was there and it was a sure sign of progress.

"I know that lady is involved, there is no way around it." He began.

Danny paused, considering an unknown fact before continuing his speech.

"You guys are ok with snooping around, right?" He asked plainly, wondering as to what the boundaries of these huntresses were.

Yang smirked, "It's not like we haven't done it before." She spoke cryptically, but it was enough to get her point across to Danny.

"Good, because she's got this room right behind the desk that she keeps locked up all day. If there's anything that we can pull up on her than it would be in that room." He stopped, recalling something before he spoke again.

"She always looks around to check if people are watching before going in, so something has got to be up with that room." Danny knew that it could very well just be her own room, but with the way she acted, he had a hunch that there was something more to her room. Danny had nothing solid to base his accusations on, but nevertheless, something within that room made him uneasy.

Danny had learned to trust his intuition, it never betrayed him, so he wouldn't betray it.

Yang closed her eyes in thought, trying to recount what she had seen in the lobby of the small Inn. Within her memory, she couldn't recall seeing a door behind the counter, but the lady had 'distracted' her anyways, it could have been easily missed. Yang wouldn't deny it herself, something about the lady was off and she was able to tell, usually she wouldn't mind prying eyes or a man checking her out. Yet, something about the way she had done so left a bad aftertaste in Yang's mind.

"Is that all you want us to do?" Ruby asked.

Danny nodded, "For now. If you find anything crazy just let me know, if Aen ever comes back I'll just have him handle it, you guys don't have to do all the crazy work."

The task was simple enough, yet Ruby saw one flaw. How was she going to get into the room without Orona taking notice? Surely she had to watch the lobby for most of the day, her and Yang had to find the perfect timing to slip into the room.

Or perhaps they could-

"How are we supposed to get in without her noticing?" Yang questioned, putting Ruby's thoughts into words for her.

Danny looked off in confusion, considering many options before opening his mouth to speak. However, his words were never released as Ruby shouted out her own idea above Danny's own unspoken one.

"We can use Yang as a distraction!" She smiled, seeming to take pride in her own small bout of genius. Or at least it was genius to her.

Yangs expression shot up wildly, a mixture of embarrassment and resentment flaring up in her face. "No! That won't happen, I'm not doing that Ruby."

Ruby's brow furrowed, "Then how else are we going to get in the room" She spoke, with a clear amount of naivety in her tone, missing the details as to why Yang was so against the idea.

Yang sighed, allowing a groan to follow her annoyed action. "Ruby, there are plenty of other ways we can get in, how am I even supposed to distract her?"

Although the last bit of her speech was laced with sarcasm, Ruby had failed to pick up on the fact that it had clearly been a rhetorical question.

"Well I mean she seemed pretty interested in you before, maybe you can get her away from the desk somehow." She spoke, answering an unneeded question.

Yangs eyes narrowed, "Ruby, I'm not gonna "seduce" her." She spoke bluntly, gesturing subtly with her two fingers to accentuate her pronunciation of seduce.

Upon understanding what Yang had thought from the beginning, Ruby immediately became aware of her naive gaffe. Her face lit up red at the thought.

"No that's not what I meant!" She yelled, waving her hands dissuasively though the air in an attempt to justify her already skewed position.

Her voice tapered off as she spoke, "I meant that she could like, bring her outside or something. I don't know." Ruby's voice became quieter with embarrassment as she spoke.

Before Yang could make her apologies as well as her protests clear, Danny had spoken in her place.

"You know that could actually work the more I think about it. She's kind of a flirter herself, I couldn't help noticing that." Although the words had been spoken mostly for Danny himself to hear, it had not stopped the two other occupants from taking notice of what he had said.

Ruby had found herself joyed that someone had for once rarely agreed with one of her plans, however for Yang the feeling was not replicated.

Yang sat with visible vexation, her arms crossed and her brows slouching to a crease.

She wouldn't do it, no way.

Danny's eyes trained on her, speaking silent pleas.

Yang had looked away to avoid the eyes of the young boy, there was clearly a better way. Yet, Yang had not moved to better sights by turning her eyes away.

Ruby's silver eyes stared with childish defeat towards Yang.

Her will faltered.

She still wouldn't do it though, she wasn't interested in other girls.

"I'm not gonna do it." She said, making her message clear.

She peaked an eye back towards her younger sister in the hopes that she would show some agreement with her decision. Yet when she had looked she was greeted with anything but.

Ruby's eyes had grown wider and droopier to a point where Yang was able to make out small tears budding at their corners.

She looked away quickly, averting her gaze from her eyes and back to Danny's, yet she only met a narrow glance from the young boy.

"It's the easiest way we can do this." He said.

Yang glanced between Danny and Ruby once more before she threw her hands in the air with resigned defeat.

"Fine!" She yelled.

"I better get something good for doing this." She muttered underneath her breath.

"Thank you!" Ruby had yelled out, any sadness in her eyes that had previously been identifiable was now gone without a trace.

Yang just scowled as she came to realize that she had fallen for her 'Puppy eyes' again. It was something she was always incapable of withstanding, and she always reassured herself it would not happen next time, yet her promises were lies to herself.

"That doesn't mean that I am doing this because I want to though!" She yelled back at Ruby, more angry at herself than she was at Ruby. She had fallen for her trap again, adding to the already numerous time her despondent eyes had snared her.

Yang stood from her seated position with a hefty exhalation of breath, she had to release the tension that had built. She wouldn't have found herself so disturbed had it been anyone else, it was something about the woman that had put an offset feeling in her body. If she wanted to help though then she would have to do at least that.

Yang swallowed her pride and looked to Danny, who sat with a small smirk.

"Don't get so full of yourself kid" She spoke before opening the door to the room and gesturing for Ruby to follow in her stead.

As Yang stepped into the hallway Ruby attentively followed behind, a small amount of confidence having filler her form at the thought of her success.

"Ruby, you're not allowed to tell anyone about this." Yang spoke with a sigh following after her speech.

"Especially not Blake and Weiss" She clarified.

Ruby laughed internally, not wanting to embarrass her older sister with her amusement. Although Ruby knew it may have been a slight but cruel to make her sister do this, she couldn't help but gather some amount of merriment from the whole idea. It's gaiety however was outweighed by the forgotten seriousness of the task.

"No problem." She spoke, hiding her amusement quite well.

As Yang descended the stairs to the lobby she thought over how she would approach the situation. She had little time to put thought into it and as the situation stood she could see the most benefit coming from approaching her she would an attractive guy.

When she thought of it that way she didn't even think it was that bad. She had always been outgoing on that front, what was stopping her from doing the same for this occasion. She could do it, but that didn't mean she wanted to, especially not with her sister watching.

She just hoped that Ruby wouldn't let her mouth run.

-S-

 _It was bloody..._

 _At least that much was true. With enough proof to leave the most gallant man broken, proof that was as unsavory as the thought of death itself._

 _No._

 _It was proof that was 'more' unsavory than the thought of death itself. If anything death itself seemed as if it was a better alternative than to stare at the proof presented._

 _It was only a loud crunch that had broken him from his stupor. A sickening noise, loud and fearful, yet it was enough for him to snap out of his stupor._

 _His hand dipped into the water, searching for his discarded spear. Water was hardly what it could be called now though. It was dyed a sickly red, not a streak of blue or even a darker grey remained. Only a crimson glow was seeable atop the water's surface._

 _He looked upstream, yet the blue never came to him._

 _How many?_

 _How many bodies were there?_

 _Another crunch, a resounding squelch, the telltale signs of something being torn._

 _A limb._

 _His attention drifted downstream with the crimson stained water. He spotted it as soon as he turned, yet he wished he had not. A jikin sat crouched over a body of his comrade, its knees pulled into its chest as its arms reached into the 'water.'_

 _What it pulled free terrified Aen, burning an image into his mind he wouldn't be soon to forget._

 _An eye._

 _A lone eye, free from its owner. From Aen's own comrade._

 _The jikin focused on it, its own pupil-less eyes staring into it as if it was still watching it. Aen could only watch in horror at what happened next._

 _It brought it to its face, a sickening smile began to adorn its own boney structure. It opened its mouth, the breath was hot, stale with blood, Aen could even see the hot gust of air release from its odd mouth._

 _It popped it in, as if it were a mere snack. The resounding squelch and pop shook Aen, down to his very core._

 _He couldn't take this._

 _Not like this._

 _Aen's paltry meal he had eaten before the battle was let out into the stream, the steamy taste of lamb stuck on his tongue as he upheaved his lunch._

 _It turned its head upstream, towards Aen's collapsed figure. The sound had caught its attention._

 _A devilish smile came across the creature's face, stretching to its ears as it stood._

 _Its jaw was clenched tight in a smile that only spoke of ill will. The reddened water dripped from its lower half as it stood, yet it still left the gray and sickly skin of the naked creature stained red, as if it was painted._

 _Aen just watched the thing._

 _The battle was over so what was left for him to do, the sun had set and the army retreated, but why was he here?_

 _Why was he the one left behind?_

 _His vision was blurring._

 _He knew why he was here. It was because he had not been strong enough, he wasn't ready. Every fabric of his being froze, why would he need to move now? He was left behind because he wasn't strong enough to do his job, he couldn't move, even when given the order. Now he was stuck to grovel with the dead as he watched the very creature that had slain his friends devour them before his eyes._

 _Why couldn't he save them?_

 _Why wasn't he strong enough to do it?_

 _Was he really that weak, was his will so fragile that it broke at the first sight of conflict? He fought before so why was it now that he couldn't move, he endured the Battle of Falks, so why couldn't he move now._

 _No._

 _He endured the battle of Falks because he had a reason, a reason to take back his hometown. But he was only lucky to make it out unscathed because he wasn't sent with the first wave, he cleaned up the stragglers, so why couldn't he now._

 _Why could he only watch as the frail creature waded through his comrades own blood?_

 _Aen watched, his eyes were glassy, any light or fervor was now gone. The glowing bright green of his irises was reduced to a dull hazel. The white was scarce, only streaks of red veins pulled towards the center of his eyes. They were more a dead man's eyes then they were a living._

 _He was on his knees, looking up at the creature as it approached with a slow stride, revealing in every moment it could watch Aen's fear._

 _Did the thing feel?_

 _Could it even comprehend what it was doing, or did it choose not to think?_

 _Aen could care less._

 _The creature was close now, he was able to make out every ill feature, the setting sun made sure of it._

 _Its eyes were black, not an emotion or thought to be seen in them, not even unlike Aen's own._

 _Yet its teeth had brought Aen to focus. He could see the small bits of meat in them, human meat he acknowledged. The teeth were no longer white, not an inch of them was. They were stained red, from who or what Aen didn't care to think._

 _It stood directly above Aen now, roughly his own height. Its head craned down to look into Aen's eyes, pressing its chin to its ribs that its skin hugged tighter than a child. It still had that same smile, the one it had taken on after it had just devoured his compatriot._

 _He watched it kneel in front of him, dropping to its knees the same way Aen was. All the while the smile never left its face._

 _Aen could feel every breath it let loose touching his face, it reeked of copper. At least that was the most noticeable smell, others were there was well, each as unsavory as the last._

 _Aen's face hadn't changed, he watched it look at him with his face as blank as it had been before. He couldn't even feel his body now, the creature had shaken him so._

 _However, it did something Aen had not expected of it._

 _It's smile disappeared, turning to a disgruntled scowl as it studied him closely. It had no lips yet it was capable of expressing such faces. Aen's face finally changed, his lifeless eyes narrowed as he studied the creature back, wondering if it felt something aside from its hunger._

 _But then it did something Aen could have never expected._

 _"Why are you here?"_

 _It spoke..._

 _Aen's jaw slackened, his eyes filled with a new light, but only one of distress. It's voice was gravely, only making it above a whisper as it repeated it's question._

 _"Did they leave you behind?" Its voice sounded like a dead man's, filled with blood. With every word, it's voice gargled as if water was stuck in the back of its throat. Each spoken word was barely coherent to the soldier._

 _Aen didn't know what to do, it would devour him eventually, but maybe he could stave it off for a bit longer. He didn't have the strength nor will to fight._

 _A finger poked Aen's head, breaking him from his thoughts. The jikin had just poked him, it's overgrown nail making it an unsavory touch, as light as it was._

 _"Hello?" It questioned, it's voice bubbling._

 _Aen looked into it's eyes once more._

 _He could talk, at least express himself before it ate him._

 _"Y-Yes." He said quietly, his voice croaking as he spoke._

 _He needed water, his throat was dry._

 _"I knew it, you humans are strange. Why would they do that" It asked, its voice becoming harder to understand for Aen, its lack of lips making sure of such._

 _Aen didn't know what to think now, the creature that he thought to be mindless was now inquiring about humans._

 _Perhaps he could at least humor it he thought._

 _"Because I wasn't as strong as the others." Aen had already accepted that much, but saying it out loud to the enemy was a challenge, he could feel tears begin to brim at his eyes. Tears that spoke of his fear and failure._

 _The jikin looked taken back by the statement, it eyes narrowing into confusion as it looked at Aen's watery eyes._

 _"Why are your eyes wet?" The creature asked innocently, tilting its head like a dog as it did so._

 _"Are you thirsty?" It inquired. "Oh you need a drink don't you, I get like that when I'm thirsty too." The creature smiled again, but differently this time, like a young child discovering something for the first time._

 _It scooped up the bloodied water in its hand, outstretching his arm directly towards Aen's mouth._

 _"Drink, it tastes good." The creature commanded with a smile. Practically shoving its bony fingers down his mouth._

 _Aen looked at the outstretched arm with disbelief, why was it nice to him. To the failure of the army, the one that was left behind._

 _Aen looked into the creatures boney hands, studying the blood it held out to him._

 _No longer did the river shine a crimson, the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, turning it to a dull red. With no shine, or any life to it._

 _"I-" Aen paused, taking a moment to compose himself before speaking again. The jikin still watched carefully, following the backs of Aen's hands as they wiped at his eyes._

 _"I can't drink that." Aen stated, looking into the pool of blood that the creature so proudly held out with a smile._

 _The creature's smile disappeared as fast as Aen's will, instead it looked at him with clear confusion._

 _"Why not? Doesn't human taste good?" It spoke, the smile returning to its face as it proudly talked about how good humans tasted._

 _Aen looked at the creature, his eyes beginning to return to normal, but not without considerable effort to not do otherwise._

 _His throat hurt and he found it hard to speak, the fear of losing his composure in front of the enemy gripped his mind._

 _Yet he still spoke._

 _"I-It's blood." He stated, pointing at the pool of the red liquid the creature held in his hand. "Humans can't drink... that." He spoke slowly, being careful to keep his thoughts from turning grim._

 _The creature no longer had a smile on it's face, instead it frowned quite clearly, showing all of it's stained teeth to Aen._

 _Letting it's hands drop, the creature let out what Aen could only think to be a sigh. The bubbling at the back of its throat creating an uneasy feeling within Aen, enough to make him feel queasy._

 _Aen still didn't understand it though. Why was a creature thought to be illiterate conversing with him, there wasn't a moment where humans and Demons got along. So why now did it think to talk, now after it had just eaten his friends. So why did it care, these were malformed beings, things not meant to be, so why did it act as if it was not?_

 _Aen couldn't know._

 _And it drove him to ask._

 _"Why?" He stated, his voicing dying out after his speech._

 _The jikin's smile returned, coming back to it's face as Aen asked the question. Perhaps it had been waiting for such._

 _"Why?" The creature repeated to itself, pushing a hand around through the water as it talked._

 _It was strange, the creature acted like a child. The way it played with the water like a playful kid was baffling, even if the water was now naught but blood._

 _It looked back at Aen, placing a skeletal hand onto his shoulder. The one covered in blood, Aen grimaced at the touch._

 _Was the touch supposed to be calming, because it was anything but. Aen only tensed under the grip, closing his eyes out of fear that it may lash out._

 _Yet it never did._

 _"Do you have a name?" The creature asked._

 _Aen opened his eyes to look back at the creature._

 _A name?_

 _Did the creature truly ask for his name, surely it could not have. It would have no use for such a thing, why would it care._

 _"M-My name?" Aen spoke back, moving his own hand to his shoulder to grab the creature' arm. The touch was unsettling, he wanted to remove it._

 _When Aen grabbed the creature's wrist and immediately he wished he had not. It was cold, as cold as a dead man's, nothing befitting of a living creature. He could feel every single bone, every indent on the creature's arm, from it's joint to it's... veins?_

 _Moving the hand from his shoulder slowly, Aen let it go as the creature watched carefully with an almost childlike curiosity._

 _"M-My name is Aen." He spoke, with no particular pride to follow his speech._

 _His name held no honor now, not when he had failed so horribly, being left to converse with the enemy. As polite as it may have been._

 _The creature's smile widened greatly, stretching far like others did before battle. The smile that spoke of fervor, the ones they always had before their 'meal.'_

 _Aen's spirit dropped._

 _It didn't intend to harm him did it? Not when it was so curious._

 _"Oh, what an exotic name!" It spoke out with that same smile, refusing to remove it's eyes from Aen's own empty ones. "Mine is Aamon."_

 _Demons had names?_

 _Aen was in disbelief, these horrid creatures. The things that had shown very little intelligence aside from a select few of them, had names. A fact that was almost human its ways._

 _Aen just looked at it._

 _He then looked to the water, still no blue had graced his vision. Only a dark red that stuck as strongly to Aen's body as it did to his mind._

 _Perhaps the Demons had more humanity to them._

 _-S-_

Ruby didn't think Yang capable of saying such things, sure she found amusement in the entire endeavor as Yang was clearly out of her comfort zone.

Still though, some of the things that she said genuinely surprised the naturally naive girl. Yang's line of "Being with a girl only gives me more options" being one that had visibly caught the girl off guard.

Not because of the fact that she said those things to a girl, even when Ruby had known Yang to be pretty boy crazy, but because of the way she said it, having dragged out some of the words rather seductively.

Yang had even suggested the Ruby wait outside to avoid having to listen in, but to the betterment of her judgment, Ruby had decided to sit at just the other end of the room silently.

Yang delivered all her lines with a certain confidence that Ruby couldn't even imagine doing herself, especially to another girl, to a guy would be hard enough for her.

Throughout all of Yang's confident lines and use of 'body language' as she had once told Ruby, she did see some progress coming out of it.

She had to stifle a laugh though as the woman behind the desk retaliated with some of her own lines that Ruby thought to have possibly been too suggestive. To the point where she actually felt some discomfort being in the room, albeit with slight amusement from Yang's flustered response.

Watching silently with a sideways gaze however, she just watched the two talk. Her eyes following all the movements each used to perpetually sway them to their side.

The woman crossed her arms under her breast, which Ruby noted with an abashed mind and a small amount of envy, to be quite... large. Looking away with a small blush of embarrassment and slight jealousy, she pulled a pair of small white earbuds free from her pocket and plugged them into her scroll.

Maybe she should stop eavesdropping she thought to herself as she turned on a favorite song of hers. She didn't feel any want to listen at this point she thought timidly.

Turning her head very briefly in between sentences, Yang looked back over her shoulder towards her sister, and noted with a clear amount of relief that she was no longer listening. To her, it meant she could take it as a moment to possibly step her game up, without Ruby having to listen to a certain amount of obscenities.

Turning her head back around she almost jumped back as she saw how close the lady had gotten to her from behind the desk; taking no caution in leaning on her elbows and propping herself up with her two hand by her cheeks. If Yang hadn't known the woman to be as upfront as she was whilst talking with Yang, she would have found the position rather cute with the way her slim face pushed her cheeks into a smile when she rested her hands on them.

When she spoke next though it didn't seem so cute.

"Well I've been interested in trying a few of my toys on someone else~" She looked Yang dead in the eyes when she spoke, making sure that the sentence wasn't lost on her. Her purple eyes burning into Yang's own with intensity.

Yang just blushed, openly.

She actually felt some emotion from the statement, she was genuinely abashed by what the lady had said, and in most other situations she would have found herself easily countering on the statement with her own quirky response. This time she couldn't set her mind straight and just sat with a quiet blush, the statement actually getting a certain rise out of the flirtatious Xiao long.

The woman just smirked confidently taking unseen pleasure in the way Yang had responded. "Sorry if that was a little upfront but I've just been dying for some real action, a guy can't always please you."

The last of her sentence was accentuated with a playful hand that tapped at Yang's shoulder from across the desk.

"Someone as good-looking as you surely must know what I mean." She spoke slowly throughout all of her sentences, dragging them out with suspense, done so in a way that left Yang expecting and even wanting more.

As embarrassed as she might have been from the woman's upfront attitude, Yang couldn't deny that she did have some yearning that she couldn't put a name too, something that left her actually taking small amounts of pleasure from the whole engagement.

"O-Of course I do." Yang responded shakily with a smirk the seductive woman could easily tell was forced.

Yang knew that she could easily take the moment to give Ruby her opening, and beforehand she dreaded the moment. Now, though, she actually felt less worried about the situation as she took a moment to look at Orona's eyes, they were quite beautiful Yang noted.

With some confidence returning to her form Yang responded steadily, "So then why don't you show me what you've got." Yang spoke with confidence that had suddenly returned to her, and she narrowed her eyes with a smirk, "I'm actually quite interested."

Turning around briefly she called to Ruby, who pulled out one earbud with a sideways glance. "Hey, Ruby mind giving me five minutes." She called to her with a smile and a wink, to which ruby nodded with a partially visible blush.

Turning around Yang jabbed a thumb towards the stairs that lead to the rooms.

"I'm sure you've got a room we can use." Yang spoke with her own smirk as Orona watched on with a passive smile.

She straightened out and grabbed a small key from under her desk, holding it between her thumb and index finger for Yang to see.

"I've got one with a great view." She leaned in over the desk, allowing a crooked smile that showed no teeth to come across her features, "Might need a bit more than five minutes with me though~"

Once again Yang felt a small pang of nervousness hit her form at the response, however as much as her instincts rang out in protest; she couldn't bring herself to find no excitement out of it. "Sounds like you know what you're doing then." Yang responded passively, albeit with a small amount of lust following what she said.

The woman just smiled deviously as she walked out from behind the desk to head towards the stairs, a wave of her finger beckoning Yang to follow the surprisingly attractive woman. "I'll show you" She spoke quietly, her voice just barely above a whisper, enough for only Yang to hear what she said. Her voice sent a single shudder down Yang's spine, yet she couldn't put a reason to it throughout all of her mind.

Ruby just watched the two ascend up the stairs and forced a blush away as they left her sight.

Since when could her sister talk like that?

-S-

With an attempt to clear those embarrassing memories she would surely not soon forget, Ruby then stood. With a parting glance she allowed her vision to flood up the stairway - and assuring herself that they wouldn't be coming back down with any amount of haste - continued.

She moved to the chest high desk at the far end of the room. Before she continued, she assured herself once more with a fleeting glance that nothing ill would become of her, and then snuck past the desk and to the metal door behind.

The door was exactly where Danny described it to be, the realization kindled a larger amount of trust in the boy that Ruby doubted earlier. At the expense of Yang's dignity, Ruby quickly continued with her task and opened the door quickly to avoid any detection. She closed the door gently behind herself but with obvious haste to the action, then took in the room behind the door.

It was hardly anything unordinary, just a neatly arranged room. A small single person bed alongside a rickety wooden desk only spoke further of its normality, and the large wardrobe alongside a tall mirror stand only made the room seem more homely. Although slightly disappointed, Ruby still brought herself to observe the room more closely, if the lady was as secretive as they thought then she wouldn't carelessly leave things about.

Taking a small breath, Ruby jumped forward and let her legs carry her to all of the small things throughout the room. Not knowing what part of her drove her to do such she first checked under the bed with a curious glance, conveniently enough however she found very little. Not allowing it to bother her however, she continued her hasty search, worrying that at any moment Yang may come back.

However, the more she searched through the room, the more her disappointment grew. With every drawer she opened, and every small place she checked, she only continued to find more and more normal objects. There wasn't a single object out of place, not even a small hint to suggest she had any malicious intent. All of it ultimately led to a dead end, with nothing to base her search off of.

She had considered leaving for a brief moment. She knew she was pushing the amount of time she had already, there was no telling when Yang and the enigmatic owner of the Inn would return

She decided to cut her loses and proceed to the door, a quiet noise caught her ears.

A soft yet long groan of some strange source.

The noise alone was hardly settling in any way, it had caused the peachy hairs on the back of her neck to stand ever just slightly. The noise itself being so unsettling that it had caused such.

She turned slowly to face the strange noise's origin, but when she turned nothing in the room presented itself as the source of the deeply unsettling groan. The only thing to take the place of where she thought the noise to have come from was only just the large wardrobe she had briefly searched early.

However, the noise had caused her to step forwards to double check for her own assurance. With an unsteady hand, she pulled the doors of the wardrobe open, revealing to her the very few hanging coats and apparel that were within.

Ruby would have followed her instinct as a normal human to turn and leave at that exact moment, but her job as a huntress pressed her to continue at least one more brief check. Running the tips of her fingers across the exposed back half of the wardrobe's interior she noted the amount of dust that collected on the tips of her fingers, evidence that could explain the obviously scarce usage of the wardrobe.

She would have paid the dust no mind in any other situation, but her doing so in touching her fingers to the wardrobe's back had done something she failed to notice initially. The back had just gently slid in the direction she pulled her finger through the dust, revealing to her through a small shaded crack that the back could open.

Allowing her curiosity to take action she dragged the wardrobe's false back to the side, opening enough for her to see behind the human height wardrobe.

What she saw interested her just as much as it worried her.

A long set of concrete stairs leading down and away into some unknown basement. She couldn't even see the bottom, the lights in the room failing to flood down into the dark stairwell.

Before she had any moment to take in the stair's frightening visage, another particularly long and imposing groan rung out through the stairwell.

This time much louder.

Loud enough to assure her that something was down there

 **~S~**

 **So how long have I been gone?**

 **Yeah, sorry about the wait and how short the chapter is, but just remember that I'm never gonna abandon this story without telling you guys beforehand. Every once and a while I'll just disappear but don't worry I'll always be back at some point.**

 **However, I've made the choice that I'll be uploading shorter chapters from now on, I'll try to keep them to about 6,000 - 8,000 words each from now on instead of trying to just make one 20,000 word chapter and taking forever to release it. The plan is that I'll be uploading more frequently from now on but with shorter chapters. That way you guys won't have to wait two months for a long ass chapter.**

 **But hey, the story is back on the road again after my overly long break.**

 **\- Stay Toasty,** Loasty **of the Toasty**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - Demonic Occurrences

So cold...

Since when was the world this cold, never did it once bother him. Yet, as he was walking down the alley that was the only thing he could keep his mind fixated on, just how cold it now was.

These cities did always seem to have something wrong with them after all, it was part of the reason he enjoyed the woods so much more. That's not what mattered though, getting out of the annoying cold was what really bothered him, he'd been wandering in it for too long.

He could agree on one simple thing though, as ridiculous as the clothes he wore looked, he couldn't deny the warmth they gave him. The oversized black sweatshirt he wore being the biggest help out of the 'plain' clothes he wore. The sweatpants though - if he recalled their name properly - was beyond comfortable, even if it didn't fully fit him.

He would give humans credit where it was due though, their clothing was far more comfortable, even if he did think many of them to look quite ridiculous. Like the hood that protruded from the back of the sweatshirt, even if he was wearing it for the extra warmth, it still looked ridiculous in his opinion. That didn't really matter though, his size just made it look more unordinary than he thought them to be, the large black sweatshirt being the biggest offender in the way it draped over him almost like robes.

Even if the length was correct, it definitely did not fit him like it should in terms of tightness. The 'sweatpants' did a much better job of that, only they reached to just about the top of his shins, leaving his bare feet to feel the full effects of the cold city. It was always colder at night too, and it didn't help that those were the only moments he was allowed to leave.

He ignored it for the time being though, he was almost where he needed to be.

The end of the long alley was in sight, and not a single human could be seen walking the streets, perfectly convenient. He didn't feel like dealing with the strange glares they certainly would give him, whether it be the oversized clothes or his height though, he wasn't sure what would have brought the attention.

He assumed it would be his height though.

Eight feet in human terms...

Stepping out of the shaded city alleyway he pulled the brims of the green winter beanie he wore down closer over his eyes. Another article of clothing he just couldn't bring himself to understand, the white ball of fluff on top being the thing he couldn't understand the most. The other reason he wore the hood, so he could cover up the ridiculous headgear.

Ignoring his unfamiliar clothing for the moment though he turned down the side walk at the end of the alley and proceeded towards the store he needed to be at. The short walk through the cold wouldn't have really been that bad had it not been for one reason though, he wasn't allowed to hunch...

That was the worst part about it, he had to stand to his fullest with a straight back, just like a normal human. It was horribly uncomfortable though, and his back hurt from the time he had to spend walking around with it straightened out.

As he reached the end of the sidewalk though, he ignored the pain in his back and read the sign before him.

 _Tuckson's Book Trade_

Looking the letters over one more time, he confirmed the name and proceeded towards the door. Ducking his head just slightly he walked into the store and reveled in the warmth that accompanied the action, he was just happy to be out of the cold now.

Time to get to work though.

Ignoring the strange look the burly faunas gave him as he walked in, he began to conduct his work, searching through the low bookshelves and their contents.

He had been in the store for around five minutes, all the while the faunas behind the desk just watched with the typical dumfounded look his height usually garnered. That wasn't bothering him though, what was really beginning to irk him was his lack of success in finding the book he wanted. It shouldn't have taken him long to find the book, he knew very well what it looked like after-all.

Deciding that he was beginning to take a moment too long in his browsing, the tall being strode towards the desk the faunas sat behind. He had been careful not to show his face too the bearded man who he assumed was Tuckson himself, carefully positioning himself around the store so only his clothed form could be seen.

He didn't care to hide it anymore though, and openly turned to face the store owner.

He felt a little amusement in the way the faunas's eyes opened wide and he stepped back in fear.

He didn't think his form to be too scary at the moment considering his odd choice of apparel, but his sight was certainly not an everyday occurrence. So he offered a friendly smile to the store owner, refusing to open his lips in fear that his jagged teeth may frighten the man even more.

Stepping forward to the counter, he then spoke, ignoring the way the faunas just looked on with a slackened jaw and open eyes. Great fear was obviously present in the man's form but he ignored it for the time being, instead asking his question.

"Greetings. Do you happen to own a copy of Seraphim's Accounts?"

The store owner couldn't even muster a word, his shocked stare being clearly evident of that.

The tall being sighed, "It's my eyes is it not?" He spoke plainly, no real amusement in his tone of voice.

That was the biggest obstacle in his way when it came to conversing with humans and faunas alike. The empty cavities where only two red orbs floated made conversation more difficult than he would have wished.

"As frighting as I may appear, I assure you I mean no harm. I only wish for a book" The oddly clothed being spoke, attempting in any way to reassure the faunas of his safety.

Tuckson just looked, unable to formulate a complete thought as he stared into the missing eyes of the strange being. The reassurances seemed to be of some help to the store owner though, as he was at least able to respond, albeit with much discomfort.

"U-uh, what book again?" The faunas responded, regaining his composure. It was best he did not accidentally provoke the strange being that had gingerly walked into his store.

"Seraphim's Accounts, if you happen to own one that is." He responded, restating his request with an amount of politeness Tuckson had not expected of the... creature.

Attempting to ignore the frightful image before him, Tuckson reached underneath the desk he sat behind and pulled free a slip of paper, grabbing the pen on his desk as he did so. He looked up at the unnervingly tall being, "Um, I'll need a name please."

Tuckson spoke carefully, going about the usual process he had done many times before whenever someone asked for a book. Though the freighting sight of whatever had just walked into the store was unnerving, the courteous way the thing conversed with him helped to remove some of the tension. It was hard to ignore the glowing red eyes watching his movements though.

The tall thing paused for a moment, contemplating his decision before speaking.

He looked back down at the bearded faunas, studying him closely.

"Seraphim." He spoke.

Tuckson paused where he stood with his pen pressed to the paper.

"You see, I am the author, but I have had the misfortune of misplacing my own copy" The creature replied.

The faunas looked back up, double checking the sight he saw before him.

Seraphim smiled.

Tuckson looked back down to the piece of paper immediately, writing the name he had heard down on the piece of paper with a shaky hand and a shaken mind. After writing the name down he turned and walked to a small shelf of books behind him, grabbing a rather thick book bound together with aging leather. The layer of dust on the book was noticeable as the storeowner placed it down on the counter, provoking a strange look from the being before him.

"This it?" Tuckson asked, the sweat bead on the top his brow dropping to the floor below.

Seraphim smiled warmly, showing just bits of his yellowing teeth as he did so.

"Yes, thank you. And the price?" The Demon asked, eyeing the cover of the book where the title so prominently found itself.

The faunas stopped, the idea of the creature paying had slipped his mind, but the reminder wasn't unwarranted.

"U-Uh, six lien" He spoke, pushing away the thought that the book was actually ten lien. He didn't want to upset the unnervingly tall demon over a matter as simple as price, not when the exchange was going so smoothly at the moment.

"I apologize for my frugality, but is gold an acceptable compromise?" The demon remarked with a crooked smile, strangely taking slight embarrassment away from the statement.

Tuckson's eyes widened.

"O-Oh, yes that's perfectly fine." The storeowner replied, making sure to keep his greed in check.

The demon chuckled to himself as he reached into the front pocket of his hoodie, "Just like a human."

Though the statement may have come off as racist to the faunas, he chose to ignore it for the moment. Perhaps it wasn't meant in such a way. It actually didn't even seem as though that statement was meant for him to hear the more Tuckson dwelled on the tall creature's hushed tone of voice.

With an unnaturally long and skinny arm the demon held out a velvet pouch, which he dropped onto the counter's top rather unceremoniously, the loud clang it produced eliciting an excited response from the store owner. The demon then grabbed the book, stuffing it under his arm as he stood to his fullest to turn around.

Seraphim perked up though and turned back around to face the storeowner who greedily eyed the velvet pouch of gold. "I almost forgot to mention." He began cryptically.

"Should a peculiarly armored man ever come to this store, please give him a copy of the book. The extra gold is payment for him as well."

Tuckson took the information in, being careful not to forget the words of the oddly generous demon.

"Is that all?" He asked plainly, the worry he felt before leaving him at the sight of the velvet pouch on his desk.

"Yes. You shouldn't miss him, his eyes are like mine, yet colored oppositely" Seraphim spoke, recalling a few details to help the faunas who he had humbly supplied with more than enough money. Far too much the more he dwelled on it...

The demon turned, walking towards the door that he knew to be too small for him. Before leaving though, he held a hand up and waved it gently side to side to.

"A good night to you sir." Seraphim spoke.

With that said, the demon exited out the door and back into the cold city night.

Checking around the city streets briefly to confirm the absence of all people, he let out a sigh and allowed his form to slump. The ache in his back immediately lessened as he returned to his usually hunched stature.

"What a bother" He spoke quietly to himself

-S-

Yang wasn't quite sure how to feel at the moment.

She wasn't quite sure what made her so confused though, whether it was the surprising kiss the innkeeper placed on her lips as soon as the door closed, or the seductive way she let her hips sway as she stepped into the bathroom to "change." The whole situation brought into question Yang's own sexual orientation, a prospect she didn't think she'd ever find herself dwelling on.

The rational part of her brain had shut off as soon as the door to the windowed inn room closed however, the soft teasing kiss the strange woman had planted on her lips being the biggest culprit of her daze. In all honesty, Yang didn't really care to think at the moment.

From the moment the young brawler stepped through the Inn doors the sight of the woman behind the desk had seemed wholly unnerving, but she had soon found those unnerving thoughts culminating into a strong desire that seemingly came from nowhere. Where that desire came from, Yang didn't care to think, but the moments in which she was left to silently wait on the bed of the empty room only strengthened that strange desire.

Things were heating up for her, to say the least.

She could worry about figuring out whether or not she was... lesbian, later.

Right now she was just absorbed in the moment and she really couldn't bring herself to understand why. She had just met Orona after-all, and even if Yang was usually forward in her approaches, this seemed a little extreme for her.

Did that bother her though? Not really...

When she heard the bathroom door click open she could hardly keep herself from all but perking up at its sudden noise.

The sight of the Innkeeper exiting the bathroom with only her lacy undergarments on hardly helped Yang to calm her sudden desire. Yang knew she was staring, but the sight was too good for her to look away from, even if she was a girl.

The bra had captured her attention firstly, complimenting the woman's well-endowed breasts. Yet it was her panties that really drew her to attention, they were quite... scanty. Only really succeeding in barely covering her womanly parts and pretty much nothing else, having been held in place by thin black strands that left very little to the imagination.

Orona chuckled to herself, "You're staring."

Upon her realization, Yang quickly shook herself away from her close 'studying' attempting to show some amount of modesty that she still barely clung to.

Yang's face reddened as she spoke, "Oh! U-uh sorry, just first time with a girl that's all"

Her free hand grabbed at the back of her neck as she spoke, attempting somehow to cool the heated blush that crept up her face. She wasn't even sure why she was so worried, she usually found herself well versed in these kinds of things, yet something was different at the moment.

Orona smiled slyly, "No need to worry." She began, stepping forward towards Yang's seated position on the bed, making sure to let her hips sway with each of her movements.

"I'll go easy on you" She practically stood over the slightly smaller blonde now, the confident smile she wore refusing to leave her face.

Yang gulped quietly, the heat in her face increasing. It really felt as if she was experiencing her first sexual moments again, the rush and nervousness were all too similar.

"T-thanks then." Yang responded with a nervous smile.

The innkeeper smiled down deviously at the blonde, and without wasting a moment slowly crawled her body onto Yang's lap. In doing so she gently pushed Yang's shoulders down onto the bed behind her, sending a dull tingle down Yang's spine as she straddled her with that same smile.

Yang didn't protest the action, and she definitely wasn't against the entire ordeal. The knot that twisted in her chest reminding her of the excitement the strange seductress projected onto her.

Yang watched tensely though as the woman leaned over her from her position straddling her, bringing her face in close next to Yang's ear.

"No need for thanks~" She whispered playfully into the blonde's ear.

Yang melted.

The strong shiver that had elicited a slight gasp from the usually confident blonde sent her into a state of mild bliss, and only from just a few words.

That desire she worked to ignore resurfaced, and it resurfaced so strongly that Yang was finally able to put a name to her emotion.

 _Lust_

Orona leaned back away from the blonde's ear, giggling cutely as she took in the dumbfounded look of the girl sprawled out before her on the bed. Yang was sure this was clearly not the woman's first time doing such a thing, and it only reassured her that she might have bitten off a bit more than she could chew.

The bite was sweet though, and completely welcome to the now accepting blonde.

The innkeeper smiled once more, "I'll quit it with the teasing then."

Yang was hardly ready for the force of the woman's hand on her jacket's buttons. The speed and dexterity with which she undid them leaving the girl to wonder how the woman was able to be so rough and so sweet at the same time.

When Yang was left with nothing but the undersized yellow shirt she wore underneath her jacket to protect her modesty the woman then paused, glancing sideways out the window of the small room.

Her eyes perked up immediately once she glanced.

Something outside the window had caught her attention, and something seemingly important enough to distract her from the obviously intimate moment that was occurring. It left Yang in small amounts of confusion, but when Orona had brought her eyes back down on the disheveled blonde brawler she felt her brief confusions slip away as she looked into the purple eyes of the girl above her.

The innkeeper's lips pursed, "So sorry honey, but it looks like I've got a customer"

The brown-haired woman gingerly slipped off of Yang's lap and curtly made her way to the bathroom where she had left her discarded suit. Though Orona had left the door open this time as she changed, it still didn't stop Yang from feeling slightly disappointed.

These things were out of her control after-all, it wasn't her fault she had to run a business that could see customers at any time of day.

Orona exited from the bathroom, having clothed herself quite quickly in comparison to the amount of time she had left Yang in waiting as she had undressed beforehand. The woman seemed oddly focused though, refusing to address the confused brawler as she stepped into the room to straighten out the creases in her shirt.

As she stepped towards the room's door she glanced over her shoulder, "I'll be a few minutes, sorry to keep you waiting." She winked over her shoulder at the blonde before opening the door.

"Business is business." She remarked with a warming smile before exiting the door to the room, leaving Yang to think about the events that had just transpired.

As soon as the door shut a sudden relief seemed to ever so briefly wash itself over Yang, and her previous ill-mannered thoughts came down on her conscience. The confusing mess of emotions and questions overwhelmed the regrettably dense Xiao-Long, leaving her with only one thought.

What... just happened?

She ignored it for the time being though, her mind instead taking interest in what had caught Orona's attention. Without any jacket to preserve her scarce modesty Yang brought herself to the window and peered out and down onto the sidewalk below, taking in a peculiar, yet familiar sight.

Aen?

-S-

Though Aen had carried himself forward with a great sense of urgency, he feared he may have taken too long to appropriately respond to the situation at hand. Due to his ineptitude with modern technology, it left him wondering just how much time he spent neglecting the messages from Danny.

Undeniably urgent though they were, Aen still felt he had been too late in his acting. Upon his return from Elysium - which had regrettably left him back at the dorm room he was given - Aen wasted very little time in calling himself to action. The time it had taken for him to navigate his way back into the city of Vale had taken more time than he would have liked, unfortunately, a grand total of about four hours being Aen's estimated time.

That's what drove him to pick up his pace.

He didn't want any harm to befall the boy purely because of his own actions, but his position in the world certainly could not guarantee his safety. The general companionship he felt towards the boy working even more to turn his speedy walk into a mild-mannered jog towards the Inn he remembered the boy to stay in.

Rounding the corner Aen stepped through the main doors of the building with visible haste, wasting hardly a moment in stepping through the glass doors.

When he stepped in, the familiar lobby of the Inn graced his eyes with its stagnancy, it was even absent of the Inn's owner. Aen had not allowed that to stop him however, and he proceeded forward into the lobby.

By the time he had made it to just about the center of the oblong lobby his glowing orbs rested on the Inn's owner descending down the stairs, her hands pulling at the creases in her gray suit. Aen approached the counter that the Inn owner gingerly stepped behind with a absentminded smile, and when he was right before the counter the woman ceased her fiddling to address Aen.

Her eyes lit up at the sight of Aen, but only for the briefest moment.

"Oh! Well, look who's back." She spoke clearly, flashing the taller man a welcoming smile.

Aen mentally reprimanded himself for being caught up with the woman, but he didn't want to ignore her greeting so that he could make his way up the stairs and to Danny's old room. An action as hasty as that would have certainly provoked a reaction out of the strange businesswoman, who even seemed to have her own secret agenda.

Aen replicated a smile that he knew the woman couldn't see, "It has been a short while hasn't it." He mused.

"But pardon my haste, I'm just coming for a quick visit." He continued, gesturing with his offhand to the stairwell at his side.

The woman rolled her purple eyes with a crooked smile coming across her face, "Always in a rush, aren't you?" She chided.

Aen would have sighed, but he still had enough care left in him to show some hospitality to the woman who was slowing his pace. It wasn't his fault that the girl was as talkative as she was after-all, he'd just have to redirect the conversation.

"As it seems." He began, "I come to visit the boy though, the one with Rex." He informed her, trying to put her focus back on the topic Aen had at hand.

Orona perked up, seemingly recalling something, "Oh yeah, those two girls just stopped by earlier for you. They said that you sent them." The woman's purple eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the end of her speech, as if she was attempting to confirm something.

Aen perked up as well, his focus briefly shifting away from the thoughts of Danny. The two girls he sent?

He didn't have any remembrance of sending anyone to check up on the boy, but it hadn't taken long for Aen to connect the dots he was given. Yang had been the one who seemed to have noticed something peculiar with his scroll, and Aen didn't think it too much of a stretch that she had noticed the messages as well. At the end of the day, she did have more technological know-how than both Aen and even Aesir.

That was a worrying thought however.

Surely the two sisters hadn't come to investigate?

Aen's nonexistent heart dropped, prompting him to speak. "The two girls?" He began questioningly, "Were they two sisters by any chance, one with long blonde hair and the other with short black?" He questioned, trying to confirm the thoughts he had running rampant in his head.

The woman placed a hand on her chin thoughtfully, dragging out a silence that bothered Aen just slightly, "Well, I didn't know they were sisters." She started with an annoyingly large amount of secrecy.

"But yeah, they said they were checking up on your kid for you." She finished off with a smile.

Aen felt his heart drop even deeper, and if it still existed he wouldn't find himself surprised if it freely bounced around inside his armor.

"Oh. Well I was not aware they would do that for me, but it is appreciated nonetheless." Aen spoke behind lies. The two sisters meddling in Aen's affairs was anything but appreciated, he didn't need more people involved than he wanted.

The woman paused almost unnoticeably for a moment.

"Well, either wa-"

Though her voice was well projected, it still found itself drowned out by a loud and sudden scream.

Both Aen and the Orona perked up simultaneously, the unexpected noise halting both of their thoughts deftly. The innkeeper did not dwell long on the frightening noise itself, and instead, she quickly turned to face the door behind her. Though Aen had trouble divulging a point of origin, Orona seemed to have very little trouble and turned herself to quickly face the door behind her.

There was a brief moment of silence in which both inhabitants of the lobby both stood with their own shocked expressions. Each having their own reason.

Aen would have taken the liberty to question the noise had the woman not spoken up herself

"Well, that's… unnerving" she spoke carefully, the traces of dread apparent in her speech.

Aen just looked on, shocked

-S-

Ruby wasn't sure what had brought her the most fear.

She could at least confirm that it had not been the decent down the stairs. Nothing aside from the quiet groan she had just caught by ear had worked to frighten her as she descended.

However, when she had grasped at the hanging oil lamp that hung gingerly by a hook at the bottom, things then became frightening. The darkness of the concrete sub-room only did allow the dim lamp's circle of radiance to extend just barely around the small girl's form.

Her first steps forward into the darkened room - which were driven by curiosity - only brought to her the images she believed to bring her the most fear.

At first, all she could make out in the darkness was the hand of some unseen being grasping into the lamp's circle of light. The hand's proportions were not normal however.

The fingers were skinny and elongated, as if they had been stretched outward by some unseen force. The decrepit bones beneath the skin could also be very easily traced and outlined by the eye.

Though the hand itself had caused the girl to jump in response to its sight, she still held strong and made no audible protest. Driven by some unwanted curiosity, Ruby continued forwards, allowing the light of the dulling lamp to wash over the whole being.

She had wished she hadn't.

Before her sat a horribly malformed man, his proportions having been warped and contorted in unnatural ways. All from his decrepit hand to the skinny arms that attached themselves to the man's shirtless form.

That lack of shirt only did make things worse.

The way that he laid unmoving on his back only allowed for Ruby to see the opened ribcage of the man.

That's what had brought her to scream.

Yet, what was most terrifying to the huntress was how the mutilated man responded. He groaned once again, and Ruby watched him stare at her with widened bloodshot eyes. He never removed his gaze.

The groan assured a terrifying fact though.

He was still alive...

Even with the bones of his ribcage sickly upturned and protruding through his skin, the man still lived.

There were then chains that Ruby saw clasped tightly around his ankles attached to the wall behind him, not allowing the man to move from his position.

Who had done this?

Just who had left this man to suffer chained up?

Though she would have liked to know the answer, she instead found her thoughts deftly removed as the room lit up.

"Oh Gods…"

Ruby turned away from the horrible sight quickly, the lights turning on only made it easier for her to take in.

When she turned though her heart dropped as she saw the mysterious innkeeper she very carefully worked to avoid standing readily at the bottom of the stairs. With the equally imposing sight of Aen standing tall next to her.

Ruby quickly opted to talk.

"It's not what it looks like!" She shouted hastily. She wasn't capable of creating a reasonable response after having faced that horrid sight.

The innkeeper thankfully remained silent, her attention instead drifting to Aen's position at her side.

He had even ignored the red hooded girl, he instead just let his gaze set itself upon the deformed man she refused to look at. Almost making Ruby feel slightly insignificant.

It appeared the sight had shaken Aen as well, yet not for its morbid imagery. Instead, it was because of the similarities Ruby had failed to notice about the mutilated man. Particularly, in his face.

With the lights Ruby had regrettably missed now turned on, it was easy to make out all of the man's sickening features. Ruby was visibly shaken as well, the clear sight causing her to turn away out of fear.

The sight did not stop Aen though.

He stepped past Ruby with a gaunt stride, coming to a stop just before the mutilated man. Orona just watched onwards with narrowed eyes, her expression as enigmatic as it could be. She had shown the least surprise after all.

Aen stepped before the man; crouching down to meet his eyes.

His orbs widened as a realization struck him.

The man, his features were far too similar, unnervingly similar to…

"Rex?" Aen spoke slowly,

The man groaned once again, his bloodshot eyes widening wildly as he did so. The white beard he once trimmed with care was now a disheveled and overgrown mess, the red stains of blood now sickeningly mixed in.

His eyes though is what worried Aen most.

His pupils were no longer the dull brown they had been before. They were now a worrying red, which bloodshot veins pulled at harshly.

Ruby froze further in fear than she already had. That was Rex? The man that went missing?

What would they tell the kid?

Ruby didn't get time to dwell on that thought before Aen stood again, placing a heavy hand on her tensed shoulders.

He spoke seriously, "Ruby, you'd do well to leave"

Aen's eyes were focused, his floating orbs had defined themselves, both narrowing in on the stairway out. Or rather, the person who stood before the exit.

Ruby stood timidly, quietly muttering her response "I- uh" she paused, unable to form her sentence.

"Ok…" she decided on finishing, her fear refusing to allow her to elaborate.

She stepped forward on unsteady legs, still attempting to comprehend what she had just seen. She couldn't even think to what had caused the man's state.

Her steps halted though as Orona finally took her moment to speak.

"Already?" She spoke with a devious smile, her purple eyes filling with some strong desire.

Ruby tensed, what did that mean?

Orona stepped forward out of the stairwell, her hand carefully sliding behind her back as she walked. Ruby didn't think it possible for her muscles to tense more than they already had, but the _devilish_ smirk the woman wore had brought more stress.

"I didn't bring both of you down here just for you to leave so soon." She added, pulling her hand back out from behind her back to reveal a thinly curving blade. It's edge looked dangerously sharp, and the inwards curve assured it's danger.

Aen stepped before the young huntress though, putting himself between her and the _fiendish_ woman.

"To think you hide your secrets so well is surprising…" Aen interjected.

Ruby watched his hand pull free the sword at his hip with one slow motion. He held the blade out before him, pointing its dangerously sharpened tip towards the woman who stood across the concrete room.

The woman stopped her stride forwards, carefully eyeing Aen's weapon in the process. She brought her grin to dull smile.

"So, you figured it out then?" She spoke, leaving Ruby in the dark as to what was occurring. Turning her mind from one of fear, to one that ran rampant with possibilities, all of which were attempts to explain what was going on before her.

Aen's eyes narrowed threateningly,

"That you are a Demon?"

The _demon's_ smile just widened…

 **~S~**

 **So... looks like Aen has more than one Demon to worry about now.**

 **I'll be honest though, I was incredibly worried about this reveal. I was worried it would be too much of a punch in the face but I tried my best to hint at the reveal throughout the story so it wasn't too unexpected. I was also worried that announcing Rex's (partial) death would take away from the moment as well, but I think I was able to work it out well enough.**

 **For those wondering what type of Demon Orona is though, surprise surprise, she's a succubus! (poor Yang) That is the reason Yang was so open to the idea of basically having sex with her though, it's not just me trying to push some mindless fluff for the sake of it.**

 **I'm sure that the fluff isn't completely unappreciated though... right?**

 **Nonetheless though, I'm trying to finally kick things into action. So now we all know that Seraphim is actually still around doing something, and that there are other demons in the world of RWBY besides him. Hooray!(?) Also, looks like team RWBY is in a little over their heads this time, who knows whats in store for them.**

 **Also, for those that didn't know, I basically did a complete overhaul on the first chapter. All the events are the same, but I just went back and made the whole thing a lot more cinematic for lack of a better word.**

 **But hey, remember to stay toasty for Thanksgiving.**

 **\- Loasty Of The Toasty**

 **(p.s; Is it just me or does Tuckson always end up getting involved in things he doesn't even know about. Poor guy)**


End file.
